Stolen Valor Act
Radio Commentary, 90.7, 91.7 New Life FM, January 9, 2015 – By Sue Ella Deadwyler
On December 20, 2006, President George W. Bush signed the Stolen Valor Act of 2005 that increased penalties for unlawfully wearing, manufacturing, or selling military decorations and medals and making it a federal misdemeanor to falsely represent oneself as having received a U.S. military award.
On June 28, 2012 the U.S. Supreme Court struck down that law, voting 6-3 that lying about a military award is not a crime, but is protected speech under the First Amendment. So, Congress passed the 2013 law making it a federal offense to falsely claim military heroism in order to get money, property, or other tangible benefits.
On November 25, 2014, Representative Terry Rogers pre-filed H.B. 12, to create the Georgia Military Service Integrity and Preservation Act, and establish a state-level criminal offense of fraudulent representation of military service. His bill explains the crime as follows:
“Any person who, with the intent of securing a tangible benefit for himself or herself, knowingly and falsely [claims in writing or orally] to be a military veteran or a recipient of a military decoration shall be guilty of fraudulent representation of military service.” Violators could be charged with a misdemeanor, fined $1,000 and sent to prison for 12 months.
If this bill passes and becomes law, the required state penalties would be added to federal penalties required by the Stolen Valor Act that passed Congress. On another issue, two pre-filed bills address the subject of sexual crimes. H.B. 17 extends the statute of limitations for reporting childhood sexual abuse of a child under 18. Current law requires civil suits against child abusers to begin within five years of the child’s 18th birthday. That law remains, but for abuse that occurs on or after July 1, 2015, the statute of limitations would be extended to 30 years or until the victim is 53 years old.
On December 12th Senator Renee Unterman pre-filed S.R. 7 as a proposed constitutional amendment authorizing the General Assembly to create the Safe Harbor for Sexually Exploited Children Fund to receive new fines from individuals convicted of prostitution and related sexual crimes.
Its companion bill, S.B. 8, creates and regulates the Sexually Exploited Children Fund Commission, whose eight members would spend the Fund and govern services to anyone under age 18 who is involved in prostitution and related crimes. Meaning, those under age 18 who voluntarily prostitute themselves or voluntarily engage in other illicit sexual conduct would be classified as victims of “sexual exploitation” or “trafficking,” and eligible for victim compensation. Page 9 of S.B. 8, clearly, states that engaging in prostitution and related crimes will not be a chargeable offense against anyone under 18 years of age.
The 40-day session begins Monday, and, as soon as these bills are officially introduced and assigned to committees, we’ll know which legislators to contact about them. For Georgia Insight I’m Sue Ella Deadwyler, your Capitol correspondent.