Inquirer Editorial: Exposing liars is enough in most cases
Posted: Sun, Feb. 26, 2012, 3:01 AM
When a Philadelphia City Council candidate last year was accused of wrongly claiming he served as a U.S. Army Special Forces officer, it was entirely fitting that he had to weather voters' scrutiny concerning the allegation.
But what if David Oh, now a duly elected councilman, had been clapped in handcuffs over those charges? That's the dilemma posed by the Stolen Valor Act, a 2006 federal law whose constitutionality was argued Wednesday before the U.S. Supreme Court.
It's a law that dangerously challenges a core democratic freedom - freedom of speech - and all in the name, ironically, of honoring the very soldiers who risk their lives in defending Americans' consitutional rights.
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http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion...ost_cases.html