3 ms·

At least in the U.S., lying by itself cannot be made illegal, as a violation of the First Amendment. That is what the Constitution says. The policy of the gove

• gohrt 13y ago
  That's not "lying by itself"
• rayiner 13y ago
  So perjury can obviously be made illegal, since it's a recognized exception to the freedom of speech that was well established at the time of the founding. Arguably 18 U.S.C. 1001 is a perjury statute. There is a very good argument that it goes far beyond how the framers would have understood the concept of perjury, specifically in that it applies to situations outside a judicial context in which no oath is administered. Certainly, there are people who think 18 U.S.C. 1001 in its full generality might be unconstitutional: http://www.volokh.com/2011/03/21/the-first-amendment-and-knowingly-false-statements-of-fact-2 http://www.volokh.com/2011/03/21/the-first-amendment-and-kno.... That said, when it has been applied, it has tended to be in cases that fit the mold of perjury or fraud anyway, thus punting on the Constitutional issue.
• gamblor956 13y ago
  That is not at all what the Constitution says. The Constitution allows free speech, and consequently you are allowed to say whatever you want, even if it is a lie. However, certain statements are also acts. While the content of the statement is protected, the act itself is punished. For example, perjury, public endangerment, etc., are acts which can take the form of speech.