PHOENIX — A U.S. Army veteran who earned a Bronze Star in combat in Iraq wants to send some people who fake their veteran status or medals to prison.
But state Rep. Walt Blackman, R-Snowflake, said he crafted his “stolen valor” legislation to avoid the legal problems that resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court voiding a similar federal law in 2012 as a violation of free speech rights in the First Amendment.
He said only if someone seeks to profit from a deliberate misrepresentation could they end up behind bars.
The former tank commander said there’s another reason for Arizona to have its own law: It would spell out that anyone convicted under the legislation who was holding public office would be forced to resign, which he said could not be covered by a federal law.
At its heart, Blackman said it’s an issue of identity theft. He said the victims are all those who served — and were awarded special medals and other designations — whose service is dishonored by those who falsely make such claims.
“Every veteran in the United States, the half a million veterans here in Arizona, we are all victims when somebody steals our valor. You are also looking at the family members left behind, Gold Star families, when somebody said they did something in combat when they did not,’’ Blackman said. Gold Star families are the parents, siblings, children and extended families of those killed in combat.
Blackman’s House Bill 2030 would make it a crime to impersonate a veteran to obtain employment or government contracts or to claim veteran benefits such as health care, education or disability compensation.
It does not stop there. The legislation also would make felons of anyone who uses a false claim of veteran status “to secure votes, campaign contributions or political advantages.’’
Rep. Walt Blackman
Consider, he said, someone who tells voters they were deployed to Vietnam when military records show otherwise.
If by doing that they raise campaign money, that would be a crime, Blackman said. He said it’s no different than existing laws that make it illegal to gain money through false schemes.
The issue came up last year in a bid by Blackman to reclaim the House seat he had previously occupied before 2022, when he made an unsuccessful run for Congress.
On his website, Steve Slaton, his opponent in the GOP primary for the state House, claimed he worked as a crew chief and co-pilot on a Cobra helicopter, serving in Vietnam and Korea. But the DD-214, the official military record, does not mention Vietnam and only that he was listed as a helicopter repairman in Korea.
Slaton offered several explanations, including that he was the victim of identity theft and his military discharge papers had been altered.
Blackman did not mention Slaton on Wednesday.
“I’m not going to get into names about who actually did it in Arizona,’’ he said. “To say their names, folks would think it’s a personal vendetta. It is not.’’
Another part of the legislation would make it a crime to wear or display any unearned military award, ranging from the Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Service Cross to the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
That section does not mention wearing medals for the purpose of personal gain. But Blackman insisted that is the intent, and that no one would end up in prison simply for dressing up with such a medal.
“If a person wants to walk around and look like George S. Patton, that’s their business,’’ he said of the much-decorated World War II general.
“However, if they say, ‘I want to be in office’ or ‘I need this contract because I am George S. Patton,’ but they’re not, then they have committed a crime.’’
At a minimum, HB 2030 would make impersonating a veteran a Class 4 felony, which carries a presumptive 2 1/2-year prison term.
Blackman’s bill also provides for a Class 2 felony — presumptively 5 years in prison — if the value of the benefit an impersonator was seeking was worth at least $50,000. Anyone convicted under that part of the statute would have to serve at least 85% of their sentence before they were eligible for parole.
