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False Valor: Amending The Stolen Valor Act To Conform With The First Amendment's Fraudulent Speech Exception, Jeffery C. Barnum
False Valor: Amending The Stolen Valor Act To Conform With The First Amendment's Fraudulent Speech Exception, Jeffery C. Barnum
Washington Law Review
The Stolen Valor Act (SVA or “the Act”) was enacted to protect against “fraudulent claims” of receipt of military honors or decorations. It does so by criminalizing false verbal or written claims regarding such awards. However, the Act failed to include all of the elements of an anti-fraud measure required by the First Amendment. Most critically, the SVA fails to require actual reliance on the part of the defrauded. Although fraud is generally not protected by the First Amendment, courts cannot construe the SVA as an anti-fraud measure if the statute does not require actual reliance. Therefore, the SVA as …
A Cure For A "Public Concern": Washington's New Anti-Slapp Law, Tom Wyrwich
A Cure For A "Public Concern": Washington's New Anti-Slapp Law, Tom Wyrwich
Washington Law Review
In March 2010, the Washington State Legislature passed its Act Limiting Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation. The new Act fills a critical void in Washington’s protection of free expression and petition rights. The Washington Act protects the free expression of Washington citizens by shielding them from meritless lawsuits designed only to incur costs and chill future expression. This Comment offers interpretive guidance for Washington courts by examining the new law, its legislative history, its constitutional underpinnings, and its relationship to the influential California anti-SLAPP statute on which it is modeled. Although the Washington Act shares many identical provisions with the …