[Ol' Dan Tucker]

Lying is not, nor ever has been protected speech; if it were, every law criminalizing fraud and perjury would be rendered unconstitutional.

What is a fictional book, movie or television show but lies that are protected by the 1st Amendment?

Lying, in and of itself, is not illegal and I challenge you to produce an example where it is.

Fraud is a crime committed against another individual in order to steal their property. Perjury is lying under oath in a court of law.

If I go fishing and then tell my friends about the 'one that got away', I may be lying, but I am breaking no laws. If I write a book about the 'one that got away', it is a lie that is protected speech.

[Joe 6-pack]

OK...I was careless in failing to qualify my words. Rather than leaving it open to the interpretation that no lies were protected speech, I should have been more clear that certain lies not only fall outside the realm of protected speech, but constitute criminal acts. Is that better?

You say, "Fraud is a crime committed against another individual in order to steal their property." Actually, most fraud statutes I'm familiar with use verbiage along the lines of "something of value." For example, slander and libel are a form of fraudulent assertion that need not necessarily deprive one of property, but only besmirch or damage the reputation of another person . Perjury, as you point out, is lying under certain specific conditions.

Both crimes (and civil torts in the case of slander and libel) demonstrate simply that not all lies are protected speech. Perjury demonstrates that lies can be criminalized when they threaten the sanctity of a legal process and potentially victimize a party in a court of law. I would argue that "Stolen Valor" lies similarly victimize a class of persons in much the same way the passer of a counterfeit $20 bill victimizes every holder of a legitimately obtained, genuine $20 bill. The "honor" of a certain military award may not be quantifiable in monetary terms, but it is no less a thing of value than a person's reputation or good name. Moreover, to falsely claim say a Bronze Star, is to falsely assert an awards process that includes the generation of official documents. If one were to forge those documents there's no question that is not protected speech, even if one did not use the document to obtain "a thing of value". Falsely wearing or claiming the award falsely presupposes the existence of said documents, and in that regards is no different than generating the fake documents that support the issuance of that award.