In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court has sided with the National Rifle Association against former New York State Department of Financial Services Superintendent Maria Vullo in a First Amendment case.
The court ruled that the NRA’s case against Vullo for allegedly violating the organization’s rights under the First Amendment can continue, overruling a decision two years ago from the 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals.
The suit was first filed by the NRA against Vullo in 2018, according to NBC News, because Vullo had encouraged insurance companies not to work with the gun-rights advocacy group, claiming that being affiliated with it would damage their reputations.
“[I]n the aftermath of the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, in which 17 people were killed, Vullo urged insurance companies and banks to reconsider any relationships they had with gun rights-affiliated groups,” the outlet reported.
Vullo’s legal team, however, argued that it was “well established” that authorities in positions similar to Vullo’s at the time could lawfully advocate for the consideration of “reputational risks” by private companies.
The NRA argued that that urging amounted to unlawful coercion by a government official, a position that liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor, authoring the decision, said was at least “plausible” and should be decided by a lower court.
Somewhat surprisingly, the American Civil Liberties Union sided with the NRA, despite its usual association with left-wing causes and organizations.
The group said in a March statement that it supports free speech “no matter the speaker.”
“[T]he reality that we have joined forces [with the NRA] … reflects the importance of the First Amendment principles at stake in this case,” the ACLU wrote.
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Sotomayor said that the NRA had yet to prove its claims again Vullo, but if those claims are demonstrated to be accurate, its likely that Vullo did violate the group’s free speech rights.
“Government officials cannot attempt to coerce private parties in order to punish or suppress views that the government disfavors,” she wrote. “Petitioner National Rifle Association (NRA) plausibly alleges that respondent Maria Vullo did just that.
“As superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services, Vullo allegedly pressured regulated entities to help her stifle the NRA’s pro-gun advocacy by threatening enforcement actions against those entities that refused to disassociate from the NRA and other gun-promotion advocacy groups.
“Those allegations, if true, state a First Amendment claim,” she concluded.
Interested readers can find the Supreme Court’s full opinion here.
Vullo is expected to argue that she is protected by the limited immunity granted public officials. SCOTUS made no decision on that subject.
The limited immunity doctrine “allows public officials to evade liability if they were not on notice at the time of the alleged conduct that their actions were unconstitutional,” NBC wrote.
“Ms. Vullo did not violate anyone’s First Amendment rights. Ms. Vullo enforced the insurance law against admitted violations by insurance entities,” one of her lawyers, Neal Katyal, wrote in response to the ruling.
He added that he expected her to prevail in the limited immunity argument as well.
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George Upper is the former Editor-in-Chief of The Western Journal and was a weekly co-host of “WJ Live,” powered by The Western Journal. He is currently a contributing editor in the areas of faith, politics and culture. A former U.S. Army special operator, teacher and consultant, he is a lifetime member of the NRA and an active volunteer leader in his church. Born in Foxborough, Massachusetts, he has lived most of his life in central North Carolina.
George Upper, is the former editor-in-chief of The Western Journal and is now a contributing editor in the areas of faith, politics and culture. He currently serves as the connections pastor at Awestruck Church in Greensboro, North Carolina. He is a former U.S. Army special operator, teacher, manager and consultant. Born in Massachusetts, he graduated from Foxborough High School before joining the Army and spending most of the next three years at Fort Bragg. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English as well as a Master’s in Business Administration, all from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He and his wife life only a short drive from his three children, their spouses and his grandchildren. He is a lifetime member of the NRA and in his spare time he shoots, reads a lot of Lawrence Block and John D. MacDonald, and watches Bruce Campbell movies. He is a fan of individual freedom, Tommy Bahama, fine-point G-2 pens and the Oxford comma.
