Abel Fields Case

Abel Fields was a 39-year-old California resident who claimed he served in the military and received a purple heart at a city meeting he attended for public safety. Each one of Abel Field’s claims were false. He had not served in the military and had not received a purple heart. He was prosecuted and convicted under the Stolen Valor Act. The Stolen Valor Act states that it is a crime to make false claims about receiving military medals and awards. The law stated, “fraudulent claims surrounding the receipt of the Medal of Honor, the distinguished-service cross, the Navy cross, the Air Force cross, the Purple Heart, and other decorations and medals awarded by the President or the Armed Forces of the United States” (Stolen Valor Act of 2005). Consequently, the nature of his crime broke the law and he was fined $1,000. In its past decisions, the Supreme Court has reminded us that there are “categories of speech . . . fully outside the protection of the first amendment” (United States v. Stevens, 2010). In Gertz v. Robert Welch, the Supreme Court opinion claimed that protecting false speech constitutionally might damage this
The First Amendment protected Field’s actions; however, he did break the Stolen Valor Act of 2006. If the Stolen Valor Act was not in affect, he would have been protected and most likely not been charged. The first amendment gives people the right to free speech and has no specific restrictions on speech. Therefore, following the Bill of Rights he was wrongly charged. Unfortunately, under the Stolen Valor Act, he pretended to get a military award he did not, and because the claims he made were false, he was charged