Stolen Valor Act of 2005

Stolen Valor Act of 2005

Long title	An Act to amend title 18, United States Code, to enhance protections relating to the reputation and meaning of the Medal of Honor and other military decorations and awards, and for other purposes.
Enacted by	the 109th United States Congress
Effective	December 20, 2006, to June 28, 2012
Citations
Public law	Pub. L. 109–437 (text) (PDF)
Statutes at Large	120 Stat. 3266–3267
Legislative history
Introduced in the Senate as S. 1998 by Kent Conrad (D-ND) on November 10, 2005 Committee consideration by Senate Judiciary, House Judiciary Passed the Senate on September 7, 2006 (Unanimous consent) Passed the House on December 6, 2006 (Voice vote) Signed into law by President George W. Bush on December 20, 2006
United States Supreme Court cases
Struck down by United States v. Alvarez in a 6–3 decision on June 28, 2012

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. In United States v. Alvarez (2012), the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Stolen Valor Act of 2005 was an unconstitutional abridgment of the freedom of speech under the First Amendment–striking down the law in a 6 to 3 decision.