The Stolen Valor Act, passed by Congress in 2005, made is illegal for anyone to falsely claim, verbally or in writing, to have been awarded a U.S. military decoration. Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that the law was unconstitutional because it violated the First Amendment’s protection of free speech. The ruling by six Supreme Court justices proved that they simply do not understand how lying works in real life.
Lies must lead directly to fraud
The majority opinion in United States v. Alvarez, written by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy and joined by Chief Justice John G. Roberts and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor, said that the Constitution does not allow speech to be prohibited solely because of its content—the message or ideas expressed. In other words, people are allowed to say anything they want, with a few exceptions, including obscenity, child pornography, threats and fraud.
Kennedy points out that “the First Amendment requires that there be a direct causal link between the restriction imposed and the injury to be prevented.” He says that that the government may restrict speech where “false claims are made to effect a fraud or secure moneys or other valuable consideration, say, offers of employment.”
In other words, if a person lies to the Veterans Administration about receiving a military medal in order to receive higher disability benefits or a bigger pension, that’s illegal. But if a person claims to be a hero in a public meeting, as Xavier Alvarez did, without receiving an identifiable benefit directly as a result of the lie, then it’s not illegal.
Lies cause little harm
A concurring opinion was written by Justice Stephen Breyer and joined by Justice Elena Kagan. They agreed that the Stolen Valor Act was unconstitutional, but for different reasons. They believed that the law harmed First Amendment rights, and the government could achieve its objective of protecting military honors through other means. In other words, the Stolen Valor Act was the legal equivalent of swatting a fly with a sledgehammer.
The problem, Justice Breyer wrote, was that the Stolen Valor Act made the act of lying about medals illegal, without demanding that someone be harmed by the lies. Breyer stated:
As written, [the Stolen Valor Act] applies in family, social, or other private contexts, where lies will often cause little harm.
Lying about military honors causes little harm in social contexts? Excuse me?
James Montgomery’s lies
My ex-husband, James Montgomery, told me that he had won the Victoria Cross, which is the Australian equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor, for his heroism in Vietnam. He claimed he was still in the Australian military, assigned to U.S. Special Forces. He showed me documents to back up his claims.
Montgomery didn’t only make these claims to me. He was active in the local chapter of the Vietnam Veterans Organization. He was the keynote speaker at a Veterans Day ceremony, and twice I accompanied him as he told a classroom full of school children about his military service, including how sad he was when his buddies were killed.
It was all a lie. James Montgomery was never in the military.
Montgomery lied in a “family or social context.” Did I suffer harm? You bet. James Montgomery took $227,000 from me, telling me the money was for his “businesses.” He spent much of it entertaining other women. In our divorce, Montgomery was ordered to pay all my money back, plus $1 million in punitive damages for fraud.
Did I get the money? No—I only recovered $517. I had to declare bankruptcy.
I was not the only person Montgomery swindled. I know for sure that he took large amounts of money from at least five other women, and suspect that he took money from many others as well. I know of at least one businessman who lost $100,000. I know American Express tried to sue him, and many credit card companies wrote off his debts.
I also know that James Montgomery is not an isolated case.
Lovefraud Romantic Partner survey results
All sociopaths lie. And, as I discovered while researching my book, Red Flags of Love Fraud—10 signs you’re dating a sociopath, 10 percent of respondents to the Lovefraud Romantic Partner Survey said that the sociopaths they encountered lied about being in the military or Special Forces.
So what happened to these survey respondents? Many of them lost money, just like me. The 114 survey respondents who said the sociopath they encountered falsely claimed to be military lost the following amounts:
- Under $5,000 18%
- $5,000 – $9,999 10%
- $10,000 – $49,999 25%
- $50,000 – $99,999 18%
- $100,000 – $499,999 19%
- More than $500,000 11%
What else happened to these unsuspecting targets?
- 32% lost their home
- 67% incurred debt
- 37% were physically abused or injured
- 44% had their lives threatened
- 28% considered or attempted suicide
- 26% had lawsuits filed against them
- 16% had criminal charges filed against them
Intention to mislead
Sociopaths lie about military service, and military decorations, intending to deceive, mislead and ultimately harm their targets. How does this work?
Most Americans have high regard for members of the military. We recognize that our men and women in uniform put themselves in harm’s way to protect the rest of us. These brave individuals do the difficult and often deadly work of preserving our freedom and protecting our way of life. For that, we honor and respect them.
When sociopaths claim to be military, their goal is to assume the mantle of respect and honor that that we confer upon true members of the military. These predators portray themselves as military so that we believe they can be trusted.
I suppose there are some people who simply engage in idle boasting when they claim military honors, and their lies, as Justice Breyer wrote, cause little harm. But I’m sure that many, many military impostors engage in their reprehensible behavior with a distinct agenda. They are lying in order to pull off a scam.
But it is not necessarily a direct cause-and-effect relationship. The fakers don’t necessarily lie to steal the benefits awarded to those who truly did earn the medals. Rather, the fakers lie to create a false perception that they are responsible and trustworthy, so that they can then steal money or other valuable commodities from the rest of us.
The justices’ view of the relationship between lies and harm is simplistic. Sociopaths are extremely sophisticated in how they use their lying and manipulation to take advantage of others. And now, because of the Supreme Court’s ruling, they can do it with impunity.
Wow! I think these Supreme Court Justices lead sheltered lives!
Like Donna says, lying about your background is the first step in perpetrating fraud, to buy respect and admiration, and TRUST from people, that you didn’t earn. It’s the first step of a con.
I’m the first person to stand up for first amendment rights, but if someone develops a false persona, impersonates a military officer with photo ops or public appearances of themselves in uniform, basically creating a false identity for the purpose of gaining social benefits from presumed military service, I wonder that any Armed Service in this country doesn’t have a big problem with that! Isn’t impersonating a police officer a crime? Like those predators who pretend to be police and pull women off the highway for criminal purposes?
I understand that LYING isn’t against the law, but when exactly does the harm start? I think giving a personal appearance, and speaking at a school or some organization under an assumed military identity, dressed in full uniform with fruit salad and all, SHOULD be a crime. That’s a step beyond bragging, or a practical joke.
But this gets to the reason it’s so difficult to prosecute ANY of these people. If you willingly engage in a romantic relationship, and “help” your perpetrator with a personal or business loan, which then they use for purposes other than what you have been led to believe, police don’t seem to think that’s a crime, even if they lied to you or misled you. I saw one of those shows where a group of women tried to take down a con man, setting him up with someone he didn’t know, and surreptitiously filming his machinations, but they couldn’t make anything stick – he did these things in different states, there weren’t firm records, or the police just told them if you give someone money there’s nothing they can do. They even got this guy to court, but the charges didn’t hold up. They were trying to get him for having them make an investment in a business that was actually a fraud, but he had enough to cover his ass.
So what exactly is legal or illegal? Physical harm is much more easily documented, and prosecuted. I do know of a woman whose boyfriend tried to choke her, and then stalked her. She kicked him out of the home she owned, but then the police said they couldn’t do anything about him stalking her, and breaking into her home, because HE LIVED THERE and had a right to be there! In this state, somehow she had no right to kick him out, as a tenant!!! That shocked me! She had a difficult time even getting the police to take her seriously, even though she was physically assaulted by this guy! She finally made some kind of connection in the police department, somebody who knew somebody, and she tracked this guy to another state, and got him arrested for theft and other things he got caught red-handed on. She is a pretty amazing person, one of the few who actually get some justice.
Every state has different laws, not to mention different countries. You have to catch somebody red-handed, on camera, to prove anything. Not to mention that there’s a lot of general cons and business fraud that goes on that has nothing to do with relationships. Sometimes they get caught, but people almost never get their money back.
I am beginning to seriously wonder if people are ever held accountable for any sort of fraud. We don’t take white-collar crime seriously in this country, unless it’s tax evasion! And it doesn’t help that these criminals even but their way into government, where they fleece everyone.
The governor of Florida, Rick Scott, was the ceo of a company that perpetrated the largest fraud IN MEDICARE HISTORY. He ripped off BILLIONS from the taxpayers, by inflating Medicare claims by up to 30,000%! And he gave kickbacks and other forms of reimbursements back to doctors to use his services. This was all proved, in court.
What happened to this guy? He was forced to resign as CEO of this company, with a parting gift of MILLIONS of dollars, and did not spend ONE DAY in jail! He should be UNDER the jail, like Bernie Madoff. His fraud was much bigger, and against the government!! Why was this man, who orchestrated this fraud, not held responsible?
And guess what, he still had plenty of money, enough to get him elected GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA!!! Who would vote for such a person??? And by the way, if it means anything at all, he’s a Republican. Why would the party support such an obvious criminal??
And then, of course, he started to institute one of those programs for drug-testing people on unemployment (which have already been proven to cost more money than they save, because only 2% of unemployed test positive for drugs).
His wife owns a drug-testing company. Anyone surprised?
Truthspeak: I absolutely LOVE your word: BAFFOON.
I never quite heard a word that fits them so precisely.
I prefer the terminology: Nephilim. It seems very appropriate. Here is a link that I found very informative:
http://www.justinpaulwalters.com/tag/nephilim/
They do target their potential victims and they use everything they learn and find out about them…all their strengths and their weaknesses and they use those things to psychologically destroy that which they want but cannot have. In my case, “IT” wanted ME and I said NO. That turned me into not someone to lovebomb but someone to harm and/or kill. Someone to stalk and to harm. I became a ‘target’ by my refusal to buy into the scam.
I will hold the bucket for you and wipe your chin….
there, there….feel better now? You just have to step back from people like that and see them for what they are.
In my research, I went back into the beginning of the war between evil and good on this earth. I studied and studied and this evilness lead me back to the period of nephilim. Although it is widely said that this was folk lore, I do think it is worth trying to grasp this finding.
The link above will take you to a blog site where this man has traveled the world in search of the nephilim. They were actually a race, which scientists thought were all destroyed at one point. It is starting to show that perhaps they became an engrained and inbred portion of our society as we know it. Anyways, it has not been proven, but on the link, there are lots of pictures and blog entries from the man who is doing this. It is something to look at: the mental progression of humans. I thought very interesting and thought provoking.
I like the way you said: ‘surgical precision’. Yes, that is exactly how it is used. I believe every psychopath is dangerous. At a moments snap. It all depends on when the mood hits them. I did find, my pet ppath to be very cowardly and whiney, almost like a little girl in a candy shop who was told ‘no’.
No, none of us are dumb and that’s the point. We are smart, intelligent, beautiful and kind people, who have been blasted apart by anothers ugly actions. That makes them feel powerful and special that they can affect someone else the way they do. Especially someone of virtue. They took all of our weaknesses and turned them around on us and sat back watching as we writhed in suffering and agony because of them and loved every moment of it. That’s exactly what it has been. Since they are too uncourageous (most of them) to commit murder and/or mayhem, the next best thing is to torment someone’s mind. They find it MUCH MORE entertaining for them. In the long run, the emotional and psychological abuse is much more destructive than a beating, although I think the two are of one in the same. Abuse is abuse.
Yes, I believe ppaths have existed before man walked upright. I believe they are a genetic malfunction. But, I do reserve my belief that we all have CHOICE in this life. It is up to us to recognize the choices and to make them accordingly and then be responsible for those choices. Yes, it was MY choice to be involved in this ugly part of my life. I am now choosing TO NOT BE ANY LONGER. My life means much more to me than that.
Yes, my boundaries are starting to turn into steel as well and lately I have found myself speaking up more and telling people what I think. hahahaha Wish me luck with that? lol
Have a good weekend Truthspeak.
Thanks for the conversations.
Dupey
Dupey, you’ll do just fine with your new construction materials!!!!!
And, you are 100% spot-on that we make choices to harm or not. In the Universe of Spath, there’s only one organism that’s living, and that’s the spath – all others are expendable.
Buffoon….he WAS. And, he was trying to behave like some kind of sexy flame that draws every female moth without fail. I cannot describe how powerful it felt to tell that idiot that he was NOT appealing. Before, I would NEVER have said anything to shoot someone down like that! NEVER! I would have actually engaged in counter-flirting, and I just do NOT have the time and energy to put up with that bullshirt, anymore.
You have a great weekend, too, Dupey.
HUGS TO YOU!!!
Parallelogram – hiding in plain sight indeed. Great sleuthing. Post links if you can!
You know, my exspath gave me SO MANY LIES right from the get go, sometimes what I read on here will trigger a memory. Somebody posted, up above, how they might lie about military history or ivy league schools.
My exspath told me that
* He was in the military for 20 years and was one level under a colonel
* He served in Iraq and just got back
* He attended an Ivy League school for his Masters degree
* He owned three homes
* He ran in a 26 mile marathon in my city
ALL OF IT WAS LIES. He even bought a shirt at goodwill with the university emblem on it. All good convincing.
I caught him in lie after lie.
Finally, I mentioned to him that I was reading a very interesting book, “THE MASK OF SANITY”.
He nearly fell over with shock.
Then he said, “what are you doing? Trying to figure me out?”.
LOL!
Thanks Truthspeak: I am hoping I can remember how to use those construction materials after all this time. I seem to have lost the manual. hehehehe
Yes, I argue with my therapist, all the time, that just because someone is ‘sick’ does not mean we should be an enabler through our pity. We should always expect better and more from ourselves and one another. My therapist and I argue about this all the time, they say some people don’t have the capacity for choice. I say we ALL have the capacity for choice. I will never feel any differently because “I” have made those same choices for myself. Just because my childhood was dysfunctional does not mean I HAVE NO CHOICE to be something different. And that is the point, to all of this, I think.
Oh yes, empowering ourselves will be the fuel that feeds our souls through this. Find that empowerment and hang onto it and never let it go again. That is the only way to survive. I am not gay but I do not care for any more ‘male relationships’. I am not a ‘male basher’ but I just don’t want to be disrespected any more in the name of love. I don’t think that is love at all. I think it is garbage and I do know I deserve better than that. THEY are the garbage and the garbage needs to be taken out. In fact, it HAS been taken out. I am recovering and starting to do fine.
Right, I just don’t have the energy, mental or otherwise to go through all of this ever again. I just want to be left inside my little cave with the wool rugs and we’ll call it good. No counter-flirting for me, Truthspeak. 🙂
Hugs back ~ Dupey
Haha Dupey,
The nephilim!!! WTF?
Although spath boy wasn’t a giant, he was a big bloke.
Yah can certainly see why you made the connection between spaths and the nephilim. Both have evil intent. Not sure the spaths would work together though. They would want all the glory and riches that destroying the human race would bring them. Wouldn’t they? Or if they did work as a team, they would eventually destroy each other. Truly dog eat dog.
Thanks …..interesting.
Ps a buffoon suggests someone of lower intelligence. A fool.
The spath, in my exp, strategic, cunning, manipulative and clever.
Happy day to you Dupey doo
strongawoman: yah, supposedly the giant nephilim shrunk over the centuries…makes a soul wonder; doesn’t it?
Oh yes, the ‘connection’ is very similar; is it not?
They do both have the same evil intents; don’t they?
hahahaha: spaths do work together and beautifully, I might add….truly dog eat dog…it’s a magnificent union when two of them get together – then they feed off one another and leave the rest of the population alone. Just a PERFECT UNION; is it not?
Oh yes, a buffoon…and that is being ‘nice’…and so spot on!
Happy day to you too Lovey…
Nice to see and read you…
Dupey
Okay…..”moral” question, here: is it “wrong” for me to gleefully anticipate the expspath being crushed in Court? I mean, the evidence is irrefutable and there is a mountain of it (2 file boxes full) among with his refusal/failure ti abide by numerous provisions of the emergency Court Order.
Dupey….the “manual” for the construction was kinda faulty, anyway. We can improvise and “A-Team” our respective undertakings! 😀
Pppfffffffft! Adios, jackass! (Waving hand at exspath dismissively)
Thanks for the link to that Lance Armstrong article. I really didn’t have much of an opinion about whether or not he doped, but I always had a bad feeling about the way he treated Sheryl Crow after he broke up with her, and she then got breast cancer, and he showed no concern for her. I thought “this is the guy who’s made his whole life about fighting cancer?” It didn’t sit right at all. I know guys a lot of times break up with women and they’re done, and it doesn’t
necessarily mean they’re terrible people, but still, it seemed really callous to me.
The part where he answered questions with questions “Why would I do something like that?” was a real red flag for me, and someone else mentioned in the comments that it’s something defensive that teenagers do all the time, to get out of a lie.
It struck a chord with me, because I tried to finally call out my stonewalling, smear-campaigning brother when he appeared on Facebook. I sent him a letter stating he needed to man up and stop lying, that it was an indication of poor character, and I would have no respect for him if he didn’t come clean. Well, I got a response, in writing, which CONFIRMED every suspicion I had, and made it much easier for me to tell him I want nothing more to do with him,
unless one day he decides to come clean, apologize, and pay his debts, both monetary and as a family member.
I KNEW the truth pretty much, and had stopped making excuses for him, but it’s another thing altogether to have the truth of his ongoing deception, along with a dose of his undeniable hostility and contempt for me, on the page in black and white! I was angry, I was sad, but I was also VINDICATED. I was RIGHT about everything, and now had solid proof. Having that brings a level of comfort to me.
I have been debating whether or not to show it to the one sister who I still speak with. She knows about the lies to the women, but she hasn’t really noticed any other indications of him being a narcissistic, raging pathological liar. I TOLD her what happened, in general, and that he was nasty to me, but at some point that letter would be the nail in the coffin for anyone who sees it, really. I still don’t trust her 100% either.
I so much want to have ONE family member left. It’s so stressful, wondering whether or not she’s going to turn on me again. She believed all the lies the first time. Now she knows about my brother, and she actually stated to me about a month ago, that she KNOWS my other sister scapegoated me. I had been waiting to hear this for almost two years, since we began speaking again. They live in the same town, so I didn’t say anything. But the truth of things eventually comes out. I just don’t know if she takes it as seriously as she should, or if she has any idea of the damage this has done to me mentally, physically, and emotionally. But I’m not going to
lay a big story on her. She’s starting to get the picture, and sometimes you have to wait till people start to “get it” themselves.
Truthspeak: No, it is NOT wrong to eagerly anticpate x spath being crushed in Court. That’s good. Fortunately, I was able to just throw it all in the trash. I have tons of proof as to the things he has done to me. But, you know what? I chose to admonish (I did not say forgive) and turn my back on it all and move on. They love the drama and attention and that is a lot of my decision to not pursue legal action.
THEY ARE NOT WORTH THE ATTENTION.
ANY ATTENTION.
I have a fatal heart condition now, thanks to “IT”, and I am not wasting one more ounce of strength on “IT”, in court or otherwise. “IT” is not making MY LIFE more miserable than it already has. Good for you! Going for that restraining order! Good for you! In my case, it’s kind of hard serving a vagrant who lives from woman to woman, off the internet. But, that doesn’t matter where I live, FORTUNATELY, because they will stand behind me and back me up anyways and “IT” has already had a taste of that, the last time he threatened to murder me, showed up 3 days later, and was promptly shuffled out of town and given an escort OUT of town and told he should never come back here anymore. Although that didn’t even stop him because there was one more visit after that, when I said: ASTA LA VISTA IT. That was the last time I saw “IT”. He wanted to see me and I took the opportunity to put a RESOLUTION to it because I knew he wouldn’t give me any but I also knew I WAS SO OVER THIS ALL. I took that opportunity to say to “IT” everything I have ever wanted TO say, even though I knew it probably wasn’t listening, standing there with a smirk on it’s face….pffft!That has to be a year and a half ago now, I would guess. YAY! They always come back but I am hoping (with fingers crossed) (going on 3 months now since I have said a peep to it) this time it will stick. If he has any sense at all, it will. But, there is still the ocassional stalking incident, which I never even respond to; all it does it make me laugh and I post it in my stalking log. How’s that? Hm? You know THEY JUST HATE BEING IGNORED. THEY REALLY HATE IT. Even bad attention is better than no attention, to them. So, “IT” gets NO attention. The minion who has it’s meat hooks in “IT”S back these days is doing a great job of keeping it confined and babysitting “IT”; I am happy to be relieved of the responsibility anymore. “MINION” is making the world a safer place. She wanted it: SHE CAN HAVE IT and I even told her so a time or two, her, calling me up with her jealousy..hahahaha Yikes: such drama…I just want the crap away from my life now. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
No, you are not wrong for looking forward to some justice and gratification, not after everything you have endured. Just like myself….don’t feel guilty or as a lesser person trying to show A SPATH a new trick…and floating in that justification this gives you. That does NOT make us a lesser person. It’s setting a boundary.
The manual was faulty??? NOW you tell me.==!!!
WTF? And here, all this whole time I thought it was me. hehhehe
oh yes: pffffffft! adios jackasses are in order.
Adios “IT” and all your minions…
Dupey