Sotomayor’s Ruling Benefits NRA in Supreme Court Free Speech Case
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of the National Rifle Association in a case involving a 2018 First Amendment lawsuit. Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s opinion supported the NRA’s claims of damage caused by a New York official to their relationships with financial institutions. This decision marks a significant victory for the gun rights group. The Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling favored the National Rifle Association in a 2018 First Amendment lawsuit. Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s opinion validated the NRA’s grievances against a New York official for harming their ties with financial entities. This outcome stands as a notable triumph for the NRA and its advocacy for gun rights.
The Supreme Court unanimously handed the National Rifle Association a win Thursday in the gun rights group’s effort to revive a 2018 First Amendment lawsuit accusing a New York official of causing damage to the NRA’s relationships with banks and insurers.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a unanimous opinion that found the NRA “plausibly alleged” that Maria Vullo, a former superintendent of New York‘s Department of Financial Services, illegally retaliated against the pro-Second Amendment group after the Parkland, Florida, high school mass shooting that left 17 people dead.
The question before the justices was whether Vullo used her regulatory power to force state financial institutions to cut off ties with the NRA in violation of constitutional First Amendment protections.
Vullo, who worked in former Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration, said her regulations targeted an insurance product that is illegal in New York, which is dubbed by critics as “murder insurance.” In essence, such insurances are third-party policies sold via the NRA that cover personal injury and criminal defense costs after the use of a firearm.
“Here, the NRA plausibly alleged that Vullo violated the First Amendment by coercing DFS-regulated entities into disassociating with the NRA in order to punish or suppress gun-promotion advocacy,” Sotomayor, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, wrote in her decision.
Although the gun rights group is typically involved in litigation surrounding the Second Amendment, the case marked an unusual departure to a First Amendment claim that even had backing from the American Civil Liberties Union, which has historically targeted the gun rights group in other cases before the high court.
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The result of the case means the NRA can continue its lawsuit against Vullo.
Justices Neil Gorsuch and Ketanji Brown Jackson penned separate concurrences.
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