Saw a bum wearing CAP Senior Pilot wings

[wuzafuzz]

So who's going to arrest all the cops wearing military style rank insignia?  Unless someone is wearing significant portions of current military uniforms or certain awards, I think that horse has fled the barn.

[RRLE]

Any LEO can stop this because it is a violation of federal law. We fall under the same statute that controls illegal wear of military uniforms because we are a uniformed auxiliary.

I think you will have to provide a cite to prove that and I don't think you will be able to.

The USCG Auxiliary, which (no insult intended) is the full-time Auxiliary of the USCG does not rely on 'the same statute' as the USCG. It has its own protection in 14 USC 892.

Whoever, without proper authority, flies from any building, aircraft, motorboat, yacht, or other vessel, any flag or pennant or displays any identifying insignia or wears any uniform or insignia of the Reserve or the Auxiliary shall be fined not more than $500.

CAP would probably have to resort to a civil suit and not the civil and/or military power since CAP's marks, insignia, etc are vested in the corporation not the Auxiliary side of the house by 36 USC 40306

The corporation has the exclusive right to use the name "Civil Air Patrol" and all insignia, copyrights, emblems, badges, descriptive or designating marks, words, and phrases the corporation adopts. This section does not affect any vested rights.

[JC004]

...
I think you will have to provide a cite to prove that and I don't think you will be able to.
...

http://vlex.com/vid/uniform-armed-forces-health-service-19190978

CAP seems like an "any auxiliary"

[SARDOC]

That would be inappropriate and the Judge would have his ruling overturned.

Just a guess from a non-JD layperson...

Very True but as a retired Law enforcement Officer and having been involved in many cases, I can tell you that if the judge applied the law intended to stop people from displaying a badge implying they had law enforcement authority for someone who who was wearing a pair of aviator wings his ruling would get reviewed and overturned.  Not that it would ever really get that far because the even if the LEO made an arrest under that section of the code, the magistrate would probably never even certify the charge and/or the District Attorney wouldn't prosecute it under that charge.  They May Amend the charge to one that may be more applicable.

[wuzafuzz]

Maybe the laws have changed since I paid any attention to this issue, but the mere possession of a "badge" is probably insufficient to be charged.  It probably has to be coupled with some behavior that would lead a reasonable person to believe the bearer is a law enforcement officer.  Otherwise all the other folks with badges would be in trouble: LE civilian employees, guards, city council members, SAR team members, badge collectors, etc.

I suspect a similar test would be applied to military uniforms and insignia.

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

This is really getting into the realms of splitting hairs, but...

What about wearing obsolete insignia?  I see it on Evilbay quite a bit, including but not limited to:

Old (droopy) aircrew wings
Not-so-old aircrew wings in pewter finish
Maroon shoulder marks (why anyone would want those is beyond me, but...)
Old cadet white-on-blue cloth chevrons
Blue CAP officer/warrant officer shoulder marks (very infrequent, but I do see them pop up from time to time)
Obsolete plastic "cartoon" ribbons

P.S. If you look on Evilbay right now you'll find some old silvertan and blue uniforms, one with CWO insignia...collectors note...

[Майор Хаткевич]

To those who make a living on eBay, we call it feeBay, and it will let anything on...except those of us who try to follow the rules.

[JC004]

This is really getting into the realms of splitting hairs, but...

What about wearing obsolete insignia?  I see it on Evilbay quite a bit, including but not limited to:

Old (droopy) aircrew wings
Not-so-old aircrew wings in pewter finish
Maroon shoulder marks (why anyone would want those is beyond me, but...)
Old cadet white-on-blue cloth chevrons
Blue CAP officer/warrant officer shoulder marks (very infrequent, but I do see them pop up from time to time)
Obsolete plastic "cartoon" ribbons

P.S. If you look on Evilbay right now you'll find some old silvertan and blue uniforms, one with CWO insignia...collectors note...

I would think not.  Would the CAP WWII reenactors be guilty of impersonation if they were not members at the time?  I think one is a CSM; they can't wear a uniform.  CRAP - if I wear the Continental Army musicians' uniform, am I impersonating?  That's a CURRENT Army uniform, even though only one unit wears it.   

We had a for-real impersonation thing happen at our meeting place WIWAC.  This guy started a thing that he called an "academy" and was more like a fake Young Marines.  It meet weekly at our sq meeting place.  From what I understand, some idiot parents sent their kid from Texas (to PA) to this academy after seeing their brochure.  They got caught.  The guy wore a full Marine officers' uniform (not a youth group version) and claimed to be a retired Marine.  He had never been any sort of Marine. 

[davidsinn]

...
I think you will have to provide a cite to prove that and I don't think you will be able to.
...

http://vlex.com/vid/uniform-armed-forces-health-service-19190978

CAP seems like an "any auxiliary"

That's the cite I had in mind.

[RRLE]

CAP seems like an "any auxiliary"

I know what you think you read but did you read the fine print, ie footnotes on your cite.

1948 ACT Based on section 1393 of title 10, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Army and Air Force, and section 228 of title 42, U.S.C., 1940 ed., The Public Health and Welfare (June 3, 1916, ch. 134, Sec. 125, 39 Stat. 216 (2d paragraph); July 1, 1944, ch. 373, Sec. 510, 58 Stat. 711). "Auxiliary of such" was inserted to extend protection to the uniforms of any auxiliary corps that may be established.

A court case would get into legislative intent and I think you will find that the 'auxiliary corps' refer to the now non-existent female corps (WACs, SPARS etc) not CAP. CAP is not an 'auxiliary corps' nor is it even a full-time auxiliary of the air force, as many on this board repeatedly point out. It is only an auxiliary when under certain orders. And as noted earlier, the US Code assigns the rights to the CAP insignia etc to the CAP corporate body not the auxiliary of the USAF role. That would make a very easy defense against a criminal charge.

If that clause means what you think it means then the USCG Auxie clause isn't necessary since they are a full-time auxiliary of the USCG.

[JC004]

On what do I have the basis to conclude that "auxiliary" is limited to auxiliaries that don't exist any longer?  "Corps" is not included in the law.  Courts do not decide legislative intent based on vlex.com notes.  Its uniform is worn all of the time, even when particular members are not acting in an auxiliary capacity.  Since when are laws made with regard to redundancy of their content?

[arBar]

This issue is pretty much similar to the US Flag Code issue where unauthorized citizens wear the flag as a fashion statement.  Does anybody ever enforce tht law?  Not that I ever hear about.  Same with military insignia.  I see people all the time who wear a piece of militaria on their jacket because its "cool". 

Unless someone is clearly impersonating a service member, I don't think its worth dragging people to jail. 

There's so much violent crime going on.  Most cops are going to let minor infractions slide. 

Plus, don't forget, the cop would have to know what CAP is to recognize its pins & badges!

[Capination]

I see bums wearing CAP pilot wings all the time.......they are called pilots! 

LOL...!!!!!!!!!!

[Capination]

Today I was a bum (aka homeless individual) outside our local 99 Cent Store wearing a Marine short sleeve khaki shirt with very shiny CAP Senior Pilot wings pinned on.

No, I did not point out he was in violation of CAPR 39-1. Somehow I felt he would be unresponsive to my criticism.

Citizens serving communities...!

Did you offer the bum any assistance, like referring him to a homeless service? Or did you limit your interaction to mind criticism? We have to look outside the box and live our leadership not limiting it to teaching a cadet, but also, causing a positive influence in out community.

Just thinking

[peter rabbit]

from the knowledgebase, quoting someone who should know, who agrees with the previous cite:

RAFAEL A. ROBLES,Lt Col,CAP
General Counsel, HQ.CAP

See below US Code Title 18 U.S.C. Section 702, which in its pertinent part reads as follows:

TITLE 18. CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
PART I. CRIMES
CHAPTER 33. EMBLEMS, INSIGNIA, AND NAMES
Go to the United States Code Service Archive Directory
18 USCS § 702

§ 702.  Uniform of armed forces and Public Health Service
Whoever, in any place within the jurisdiction of the United States or in the Canal Zone, without authority, wears the uniform or a distinctive part thereof or anything similar to a distinctive part of the uniform of any of the armed forces of the United States, Public Health Service or any auxiliary of such, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.

HISTORY:   (June 25, 1948, ch 645, § 1, 62 Stat. 732; May 24, 1949, ch 139, § 15, 63 Stat. 91; Sept. 13, 1994, P.L. 103-322, Title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(E), 108 Stat. 2146.)

[ol'fido]

Sorry, but we can debate legality or illegality of wearing CAP or other military insignia by unauthorized persons until we are blue in the face and it will accomplish bumpkis. 99.99999% of cops that even know what CAP is are not going to roll some bum because he's wearing a pair of wings. The only time the cop is going to care is if the guy is trying to beg or plead for money based on being a "Homeless CAP Vet" ( yeah, a lot of those out there.). Otherwise, the time that it takes to transport, process, write up the bum is time he could be out there looking for "real" criminals. And if the cop does take the time to run the guy in for "wearing CAP wings", the chances are that his supervisor will tell him to "Buy the guy a cup of coffee and take him back where you found him". Also, good luck finding a prosecutor that will even file charges unless there was some sort of major fraud going on with it.

[Hardshell Clam]

18 USC § 701. Official badges, identification cards, other insignia
Whoever manufactures, sells, or possesses any badge, identification card, or other insignia, of the design prescribed by the head of any department or agency of the United States for use by any officer or employee thereof, or any colorable imitation thereof, or photographs, prints, or in any other manner makes or executes any engraving, photograph, print, or impression in the likeness of any such badge, identification card, or other insignia, or any colorable imitation thereof, except as authorized under regulations made pursuant to law, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.

And for you "na-sayers" The CAP is a govt controled corp and this law would apply. But good luck trying to get the U.S. Attorney to file on it...

[Major Lord]

If you feel strongly enough about it, you can make a Citizen's Arrest, but I would strongly encourage you to engage your self-preservation mode before confronting a Street Person- They don't last long on the streets unless they have good skills at surviving confrontation, i.e. they might bite one of your body parts off......That guy wearing the Marine Corp shirt may have a few synapses left in his schizophrenic, drug addled body to summon some of the skills he may have actually acquired in a nasty swamp in North Carolina or the more pleasant, but no less rigorous areas of Southern California. There are few things worth dying for, and CAP wings sure as (heck) are not on that short list. I saw a 19 year old kid wearing an enlisted uniform with full colonel insignia, and pointed the guy out to the LAPD, who 5150'd ( Mental hold) him. Unless someone is using it to gain access to someplace they should not, I would avoid shooting them if you can find another way around it.

Major Lord

[The CyBorg is destroyed]

If you feel strongly enough about it, you can make a Citizen's Arrest, but I would strongly encourage you to engage your self-preservation mode before confronting a Street Person- They don't last long on the streets unless they have good skills at surviving confrontation, i.e. they might bite one of your body parts off......
Major Lord

Sage, real-world advice.  I have known a number of street people in my lifetime and so much of their lives focuses on self-preservation that:

First, they are not going to give a tinker's cuss what someone tries to cite out of U.S. Code;

They are more than likely wearing the garment because it is WARM and could care less if it has CAP or Girl Scout insignia;

If you continue to press the issue, they'll most likely press it another way.

[NCRblues]

Thousands of high school age men and women wear old military cloths (or military style) every day. It seems to be a fashion at the moment. (One I do not understand but anyway....)

I honestly to not believe any court in the US is going to listen to this style of argument for very long. The first thing the defense would bring up is freedom of speech (and the Supreme Court has already said clothing is considered a form of speech).