In all the excitement Thursday over the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to uphold President Obama's health care law, another important ruling went mostly unnoticed.
The court voted 6-3 Thursday to overturn the Stolen Valor Act, saying that while it's "contemptible" for someone to lie about receiving military service medals, uttering such lies is protected by the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment right of free speech.
The Stolen Valor Act was enacted by Congress in 2006 and in 2007 it was put to the test in a case arising in Southern California when a local official lied in a public meeting about being a decorated war veteran. He was charged under the act and his lawyer admitted the lie, but said the official's speech was constitutionally protected.
