A federal judge has declared unconstitutional a little-known law making it a crime to falsely claim to have been awarded a military medal. A Colorado man who was never in the military was arrested for falsely claiming to have won the Purple Heart (.pdf) and other medals as a Marine in Iraq. He challenged the Stolen Valor Act of 2005, which provides penalties up to a year in prison, on grounds it breached the First Amendment. In the first ruling declaring the measure unconstitutional, U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn agreed with defendant Rick Strandlof’s contention. The judge said the government’s defense of ...