Maryland state Senator seeks to strengthen Stolen Valor laws
In Maryland, State Senator Bryan Simonaire, a member of the veteran caucus, plans to submit a new stolen valor act to the state Assembly this winter, according to ABC News;
“It specifically for when they’re obtaining property or money or other benefits,” Sen. Simonaire said. “As we saw in the federal case, you have to protect freedom of speech. So they can wear the uniform, but they can’t do it for their own personal gain.”
If the Stolen Valor Act of 2016 is passed, impersonators could face imprisonment or fines up to $2,500.
As we’ve seen in the case of Jason Scaletta, there are prosecutors like Ella Disharoon who are willing to use current Maryland laws to prosecute stolen valor, but, anything to let the phonies know that Maryland won’t tolerate Stolen Valor is a good thing.
Category: Stolen Valor Act
I understand that you guys and Anthony Anderson at Stolen Valor are also working together with the guys from Maryland on this? Or at least giving them some testimony.
Either way, good on all of you and I hope this succeeds.
Scaletta wasn’t charged with stolen valor, he was charged with fraud.
Lies for profit have always been fraud, misrepresentation of the facts to gain a profit have never been a legal method for self-enrichment.
Reluctance to prosecute fraud because someone might or might not have been a veteran is a problem with prosecutors not necessarily with the law as written. It will be interesting to see the strength of some of these laws and the application by prosecutors of this law.
There is no law against just being a fucking liar who doesn’t seek to gain financially from those lies.
I wonder if this law will be applied similarly to the extra gun crime laws in many states where the mere possession of a firearm illegally is another charge, one that is often dropped to gain a plea deal and save everyone time and money.
If someone pleads out to the stolen valor or the fraud whichever carries the lesser penalty there could easily be another example of the law of unintended consequences once this comes into play.
Why in the name of BUDDHA, doesn’t someone with a brain (JONN et al.) write up a law that even a child could understand. Find Senators from every State and have it signed into both STATE and FEDERAL LAW.