Jared Polis finally pulls “Fake Vet” video from YouTube; Charges for “Stolen Valor” Unconstitutional argues group
by elpresidente | 2:03 pm, January 20, 2010 | Comments Off
The video, still available as of early last month (screencap), has finally been yanked from the Representative’s YouTube page.
Now a civil liberties group argues that Rick Strandlof’s lies are protected speech:
Rick Strandlof may have lied about being a decorated Iraq War veteran, but those lies are protected by the First Amendment, according to his attorney and a civil liberties organization.
Strandlof, 32, is charged in U.S. District Court in Denver with five misdemeanors related to violating the Stolen Valor Act — specifically, making false claims about receiving military decorations.
He is accused of posing as “Rick Duncan,” a wounded Marine captain who received a Purple Heart and a Silver Star. Strandlof used that persona to found the Colorado Veterans Alliance and solicit funds for the organization.
In May, real veterans serving on the board of the Colorado Veterans Alliance became suspicious of Strandlof’s claims, and the FBI opened an investigation.
. . .
Rutherford Institute attorney Douglas McKusick argues that Strandlof’s lies did not “inflict harm” upon the medals he lied about or debase the meaning of the medals for the veterans who actually earned them.“Such expression remains within the presumptive protection afforded pure speech by the First Amendment,” McKusick wrote. “As such, the Stolen Valor Act is an unconstitutional restraint on the freedom of speech.”
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