Stolen Valor Act
Why can't we try to deter willful misrepresentations of fact by a modest fine, at least, if they create direct harm to others? Lies to those evaluating your credentials may do direct harm to others. If one lies to gain a job, something which seems to happen with increasing frequency, isn’t it a direct harm to others? Or, how about false representing as having received any credentials for something?
The Stolen Valor Act of 2005, signed into law by President George W. Bush on December 20, 2006,[1] was a U.S. law that broadened the provisions of previous U.S. law addressing the unauthorized wear, manufacture, or sale of any military decorations and medals. The law made it a federal misdemeanor to falsely represent oneself as having received any U.S. military decoration or medal. If convicted, defendants might have been imprisoned for up to six months, unless the decoration lied about is the Medal of Honor, in which case imprisonment could have been up to one year (Wikipedia). I personally don’t have any family members in the military, but I know friends who are in the military and I know they would be highly offended if someone falsely represented themselves to be a member of the military. Those men and women who serve our country risk their lives and have put work into whatever credentials they have earned and it is a great disrespect for anyone to falsely give oneself credit for something they have not earned. The purpose of the Act was to strengthen the provisions of federal law by broadening its scope and strengthening penalties. Specific new provisions in the Act included:
• granting more authority to federal law enforcement officers;
• broadening the law to cover false claims whereas previously an overt act had to be committed;
• covering the mailing and shipping of medals; and
• protecting the reputation and meaning of military heroism medals.
The Act made it illegal for unauthorized persons to wear, buy, sell, barter, trade, or manufacture "any
The Stolen Valor Act of 2005, signed into law by President George W. Bush on December 20, 2006,[1] was a U.S. law that broadened the provisions of previous U.S. law addressing the unauthorized wear, manufacture, or sale of any military decorations and medals. The law made it a federal misdemeanor to falsely represent oneself as having received any U.S. military decoration or medal. If convicted, defendants might have been imprisoned for up to six months, unless the decoration lied about is the Medal of Honor, in which case imprisonment could have been up to one year (Wikipedia). I personally don’t have any family members in the military, but I know friends who are in the military and I know they would be highly offended if someone falsely represented themselves to be a member of the military. Those men and women who serve our country risk their lives and have put work into whatever credentials they have earned and it is a great disrespect for anyone to falsely give oneself credit for something they have not earned. The purpose of the Act was to strengthen the provisions of federal law by broadening its scope and strengthening penalties. Specific new provisions in the Act included:
• granting more authority to federal law enforcement officers;
• broadening the law to cover false claims whereas previously an overt act had to be committed;
• covering the mailing and shipping of medals; and
• protecting the reputation and meaning of military heroism medals.
The Act made it illegal for unauthorized persons to wear, buy, sell, barter, trade, or manufacture "any