Lying a Constitutional Right

Wednesday, 08 September 2010 | by Pat's Picks

It’s your party and you can lie if you want to. According to an opinion piece written by Ken Paulson, the president of the First Amendment Center in this morning’s USA Today, Americans have a constitutional right to tell untruths. To clarify, the government doesn’t give us carte blache to fib—we can’t lie under oath or to defraud someone. But according to Paulson, if you choose to lie to former classmates at your high school reunion or to exaggerate your attributes in a pick-up line, the government has no right to intervene. The piece was prompted by a case currently being heard by the Supreme Court, in which a serial liar told several people he, among other things, played hockey for the Detroit Red Wings, married a Mexican starlet and was a decorated ex-Marine. It is the last lie the court is weighing in on.

A report, compiled last year by the Josephine Institute, found that teenagers believe lying and cheating are necessary to succeed in life.