WESTFIELD – State Rep. John Velis is beginning his first full term in the Mass. House of Representatives by proposing legislation that would make it illegal for someone to falsely claim military service for financial gain.
Several states bngand the federal government already have similar laws on their books, but the Westfield Democrat, a captain in the United States Army Reserve who served in combat in Afghanistan, is urging his fellow lawmakers to implement what would be the toughest stolen valor law in the country, making it a criminal offense that could earn a fine of $1,000, a year in prison, or both.
One need only log onto youtube.com to find videos of active duty military members confronting civilians dressed in military attire or medals falsely claiming service and Velis cited several of these incidents in an interview Friday, adding that he has spoken about the bill with Rep.’s Jerald Parisella, D-Beverly, and Harold “Hank” Naughton, D-Clinton, both of whom serve in the U.S. Army Reserves.
“He is strongly in support of it,” said Velis of Parisella, who he consulted with while writing the bill. “I had decided I was going to file this bill about a month ago and I used him as a sounding board, asking him what he was hearing (from other vets) and he said ‘file that bill, it sounds great.'”
Velis said he has a gut feeling there will be a “good amount” of bipartisan support for the bill when he sends it out for co-sponsors next week and is confident it will enjoy support in the Senate as well thanks to the presence of the legislature’s fourth active duty servicemember, Michael Rush, a Democrat from Boston’s West Roxbury neighborhood who serves as chair of the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs.
When asked of why the bill has taken a month to complete, Velis said that he has had a running dialogue with house counsel regarding the constitutionality of the legislation.
“I never want to file a bill that is immediately going to be struck down by the courts,” he said. “The attorneys in house counsel and I have been trying to come up with something that will survive First Amendment constitutional scrutiny.”
The reason for Velis’ concern stems from the first federal Stolen Valor Act, which was passed in 2006 and prohibited anyone from falsely claiming that they had been awarded a medal from the U.S. Armed Services and was struck down as unconstitutional in 2012 by the U.S. Supreme Court, five years after a California man claimed that it violated his freedom of speech.
Velis said his bill builds upon the 2013 federal Stolen Valor Act and is adament in his belief that the First Amendment doesn’t protect fraud.
“That is precisely what people who are not serving and have never served are committing,” said Velis. “By putting on a military uniform and representing – whether to a school for financial aid or to get a military discount and everything in between – that’s fraud.”
“One of the great things about getting a military discount or benefits is that it is the government – federal or state – saying ‘thank you for what you’ve done,'” he continued. “Dressing up in a uniform you haven’t earned, that other people have died, lost limbs and come back with all types of psychological issus in, that’s just not fair.”
Velis sponsors new Stolen Valor Act
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