For every privilege, there inevitably will be people who will abuse it.

Perhaps "abuse" would be a more fitting charge against Xavier Alvarez than what he now faces.

Alvarez, who sits on a municipal water board in California, is expected to attend a court hearing today in which he will face charges under the 2005 Stolen Valor Act, a federal law that forbids anyone from falsely claiming to have won a military honor.

Not only has Alvarez twice claimed to have won the Medal of Honor, America's highest military award, he also has claimed to be a 25-year U.S. Marine Corps veteran.

Despite videotaped evidence to the contrary, Alvarez is pleading not guilty by mounting an unusual defense. He asserts that the Stolen Valor law is unconstitutional because it interferes with his right to free speech.

In effect, he is claiming his constitutional right to lie.

And he makes an interesting point. An uncomfortable by-product of the First Amendment is that, yes, it does give people the right to lie and the right to hate.

But it doesn't give anyone the right to defraud.

That's basically what he did. Lying is one thing. But he uncorked one of those lies in front of a group of police officers he was soliciting to receive their votes when he ran for mayor of Pomona, Calif., in 2006. Alvarez didn't just lie to lie. He lied for gain. And that's fraud.

The maximum sentence he can receive is two years in prison and a $200,000 fine. It's unlikely he'll get the maximum, but if found guilty, Alvarez deserves a punishment to cover abuse of the First Amendment, and theft of the genuine honor that comes with being a real hero. Top that with heaping helpings of embarrassment and shame.