Abel Fields Essay

In the year 2006, the Stolen Valor Act made it illegal to make medals of Honor. The case brought forth to us describes issues brought about by this act. In United States v. Fields, Abel Fields attended a meeting where he proclaimed that he had military experience, and that he earned a Purple Heart. He had made false statements, and in turn was convicted, and had to pay a $1,000 fine. Fields felt that his First Amendment rights had been violated. He appealed his case to the court of appeals. He argued that it was okay to falsify his claims, because he they were about him. He didn’t harm anyone in lying about himself. The court of appeals overturned his conviction because they thought the Stole Valor Act was unnecessary. That wasn’t the end of it. The government appealed the court of appeals decision to bring to the Supreme Court where it is now. I stand with full belief, and the majority opinion of the Supreme Court that Abel Fields’ conviction be overturned. His First Amendment rights had been violated. Even though he was

The first being, the New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. In 1964, the New York Times printed an article about a public official’s police department. This article was riddled with false statements. It was brought to the Supreme Court many years ago. Our ruling then was that people can say false statements if they don’t intend malice, or ill will. We ruled in the Times’s favor. They didn’t mean to make false claims about the elected official. They had no malicious intent. The other case was Texas v. Johnson. Gregory Johnson burned an American flag in protest. The law in Texas at the time banned flag burnings. He was convicted, and the case was appealed to the Supreme Court. We ruled that Johnson’s right to free speech had been violated. He was expressing symbolic speech. We ruled that even though an opinion is unpopular, doesn’t mean we have the right to restrict his freedom of