Opinion ID: 621667
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Other Stolen Valor Act Prosecutions

Text: -5- Other courts have confronted this same question, with varying results. 1 In United States v. Alvarez, 617 F.3d 1198 (9th Cir. 2010), the only circuit court case to consider this issue, a divided Ninth Circuit panel held the Stolen Valor Act is facially unconstitutional. 2 The majority opinion found that “false factual speech, as a general category unto itself,” does not fall within those “historical and traditional categories [of unprotected speech] long familiar to the bar.” Id. at 1206 (quotation omitted). Specifically, the court reasoned that the Stolen Valor Act does not “fit[] into the defamation category” of unprotected speech, because 1 The broader question of the constitutionality of knowing falsehoods has also inspired significant scholarly debate, with no clear consensus. See, e.g., Frederick Schauer, Facts and the First Amendment, 57 UCLA L. Rev. 897 (2010); Steven G. Gey, The First Amendment and the Dissemination of Socially Worthless Untruths, 36 Fla. St. U. L. Rev. 1 (2008); Jonathan D. Varat, Deception and the First Amendment, A Central, Complex, and Somewhat Curious Relationship, 53 UCLA L. Rev. 1107 (2006); James Weinstein, Speech Categorization and the Limits of First Amendment Formalism: Lessons from Nike v. Kasky, 54 Case W. L. Rev. 1091 (2004); Kenneth Lasson, Holocaust Denial and the First Amendment: The Quest for Truth in a Free Society, 6 Geo. Mason L. Rev. 35 (1997); Charles Fried, The New First Amendment Jurisprudence: A Threat to Liberty, 52 U. Chi. L. Rev. 225 (1992); Mark Tushnet, ‘Telling Me Lies’: The Constitutionality of Regulating False Statements of Fact, Harv. Pub. L. Working Paper No. 11-02 (2011), available at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1737930; Josh M. Parker, The Stolen Valor Act as Constitutional: Bringing Coherence to First Amendment Analysis of False Speech Restrictions, 78 U. Chi. L. Rev. — (Forthcoming 2011); Jeffrey C. Barnum, Protecting the Public by Protecting Valor: The Case for Amending the Stolen Valor Act to be an Anti-Fraud Measure, 86 Wash. L. Rev. — (Forthcoming 2011). 2 In addition, the Eighth Circuit recently considered an analogous question—the constitutionality of a state statute prohibiting false statements about ballot initiatives—and held knowingly false campaign speech is not a category of unprotected speech. 281 Care Comm. v. Arneson, 638 F.3d 621 (8th Cir. 2011). -6- it does not prohibit only speech that is made with actual malice or knowledge of falsity and that is “injurious to a private individual.” Id. at 1209 (quotation omitted). Thus, the Ninth Circuit applied strict scrutiny and concluded that, although the Stolen Valor Act serves an important interest (perhaps even a compelling interest), it is not narrowly tailored because “other means exist to achieve the interest of stopping [false speech regarding military awards], such as by using more speech, or redrafting the Act to target actual impersonation or fraud.” Id. at 1211.