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Alabama House passes Stolen Valor Bill

by Jonn Lilyea••26

The Anniston Star reports that the Alabama state legislature approved their own Stolen Valor bill unanimously;

With little debate, the Alabama House of Representatives voted 70-0 to make it a crime to falsely claim to hold certain military medals with “intent to defraud.”

The bill would make it a misdemeanor to falsely claim to have received various combat action badges, or to falsely claim several highly respected types of combat decoration, including the Silver Star, the Purple Heart or the Medal of Honor.

Under the bill, a false claim of a medal wouldn’t be criminal unless the person claiming the medal does so with the intent to receive money or some other tangible benefit.

As I’ve said before it is good to see state legislatures take this movement seriously, but i only wish prosecutors would take it just as seriously. Passing stolen valor bills make the legislators feel good about themselves and it gives them something positive to show voters, but prosecutors never seem to have the resources to pursue the valor thieves.

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26 thoughts on “Alabama House passes Stolen Valor Bill”

  1. We need to lobby for a Stolen Valor Prosecutors Law making it illegal to NOT prosecute a case of Stolen Valor.
    /TAH DAH!!…Done.

  2. (1) A Congressional Medal of Honor awarded under Section 3741, 6241, or 8741, of Title 10, or Section 491 of Title 14.
    (2) A Distinguished Service Cross awarded under Section 3742 of Title 10.
    (3) A Navy Cross awarded under Section 6242 of Title 10.
    (4) An Air Force Cross awarded under Section 8742 of Title 10.
    (5) A Silver Star awarded under Section 3746, 6244, or 8746 of Title 10.
    (6) A Purple Heart awarded under Section 1129 of Title 10.
    (7) A combat badge, which for the purposes of this section, means a Combat Infantryman’s Badge, Combat Action Badge, Combat Medical Badge, Combat Action Ribbon, or Combat Action Medal.

    so Ranger, SF, Sniper, Jump Wings, SEAL are still fair game

          1. thats the ribbons ..

            I’m talking the C*B, metal tabs, wings, etc … the bright shiny stuff.

    2. Well they had to leave a backdoor open so some of us could have some free entertainment Lol… And a good laugh when they get caught BAHAHAHAHAHA ! ! ! !

  3. What you say, Jonn, is absolutely true regarding prosecution. It is also true that state prosecutors can’t hope to enforce a nonexistent law. So, the more SV state laws, the better the chances of an actual prosecution. Unlike the feds, a state’s prosecutors have to run for (wait for it) election. And that’s where the power of pressure has the best chance to work. (“Um, what will your office do to best enforce the state’s Stolen Valor law?” and for incumbents: “Can you please estimate the number of Stolen Valor cases your office has brought, and with what results?”) Of course, the questions have to be asked and the letters to the editor written at election time. Otherwise, most won’t give a shit.

  4. “some other tangible benefit.”

    Is not having a boot up your ass considered a “tangible benefit”?

  5. Whether you receive monetary value for the deception is the standard for prosecution, but it should cover all military medals. Only way to solve this is to have a data base available for anyone to look it up. NARA should enter the medals info into a data base as records are received. Wouldn’t take much effort or cost as most records received now are e-files anyhow.

  6. Whenever I’m trying to get something free I always make sure that I utter the phrase “want to see my CIB?”

    1. Funny.

      And All-Points Logistics has a Huntsville office.

      I wonder if Commander Phil Monkress was contacted for comment?

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