The case is United States v. Strandlof, which I discussed here, and in which I filed this amicus brief. I found the opinion to be quite thoughtful and interesting, but I ultimately wasn’t persuaded (despite the recent United States v. Stevens precedent, on which the court heavily relies). The court’s theory seems to suggest that, […]
Archive | Knowingly False Statements of Fact
Federal Government Argues that Ban on False Claims of Having Gotten a Military Medal Is “Content-Neutral”
By Eugene Volokh on February 8, 2010 12:25 pm in Freedom of Speech, Knowingly False Statements of Fact
A pretty poor argument (see p. 6), it seems to me — the law applies to speech of a certain content, and is justified by a worry that the content of the speech will mislead people. I’ve argued that the ban is constitutionally permissible, because it fits within the knowingly-false-statements-of-fact exception to First Amendment protection. […]
Request for Comments on a Draft Amicus Brief in the Strandlof Stolen Valor Act Case
By Eugene Volokh on January 10, 2010 2:03 am in Freedom of Speech, Knowingly False Statements of Fact, Uncategorized
I decided to take up the court’s open invitation to file amicus briefs in this case (follow the link if you want more facts); the Rutherford Institute has also apparently decided to do the same. Since the filing date has been extended by several days, I thought I’d post a fairly early draft of the […]
The First Amendment and Knowingly False Statements of Fact
Is there an exception to First Amendment protection for knowingly (and recklessly) false statements of fact, or are there several narrower exceptions for libel, fraud, and the like? I’ve blogged before about this question (I’m inclined to think the answer is that there’s a general reckless/knowing false statements of fact exception, subject to the limits […]