Snippets from the linked articles are being used in the following summary under the Fair Use Clause of the U.S. Copyright Act, Title 17, Section 107.

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The court voted 6-3 Thursday in favor of Xavier Alvarez, a former local elected official in California who falsely claimed he was a decorated war veteran.

Alvarez had pleaded guilty to violating a 2006 law that was adopted with the nation at war in Afghanistan and Iraq and aimed at people making phony claims of heroism in battle. The court, in a judgment written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, ordered that his conviction be thrown out.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/supreme-court-strikes-down-law-making-it-illegal-to-lie-about-receiving-military-awards/



Majority Opinion

"The Nation well knows that one of the costs of the First Amendment is that it protects the speech we detest as well as the speech we embrace. Though few might find respondent’s statements anything but contemptible, his right to make those statements is protected by the Constitution’s guarantee of freedom of speech and expression. The Stolen Valor Act infringes upon speech protected by the First Amendment."

Supreme Court Ruling
http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/11pdf/11-210d4e9.pdf