Future Retirement Success
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks

Future Retirement Success

Investing

NRA v. Vullo: A Big First Amendment Win at the High Court

by May 31, 2024
May 31, 2024
NRA v. Vullo: A Big First Amendment Win at the High Court

Walter Olson

Free‐​expression advocates won a big victory at the Supreme Court in yesterday’s National Rifle Association v. Vullo, with Justice Sonia Sotomayor writing for a unanimous court with Justices Neil Gorsuch and Ketanji Brown Jackson concurring.

Brent Skorup, legal fellow in the Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, responded with this statement:

The Supreme Court has been clear that a government official cannot directly or indirectly coerce a private party to punish disfavored speech on the government’s behalf. Today the Court unanimously reaffirmed that principle.

Acting on a tip from gun‐​control advocacy groups, in 2017 New York’s Department of Financial Services began investigating insurance companies who offered insurance products to NRA members. New York regulators and Governor Cuomo, via meetings with and emails, statements, and guidance to those insurers, signaled that the regulators would focus their enforcement and investigations on insurers who continued to provide insurance products to the NRA and similar “gun promotion organizations.” Insurers discontinued services to NRA members and the NRA sued for violation of the organization’s First Amendment rights.

The Supreme Court today reversed the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and held that the NRA plausibly alleged violation of the organization’s free speech rights. New York regulators’ actions were not “examples of permissible government speech” and were not “legitimate enforcement action.” The Court held that the NRA’s allegations, if true, were coercive threats aimed at punishing the NRA’s speech in violation of the First Amendment. The case is remanded for further proceedings. The Court reached the correct result and it’s encouraging to see a unanimous affirmation of an important precedent that the government cannot use its power to indirectly chill the speech of private parties and government critics.

Writing with David Rifkin in the Wall Street Journal in 2022, Cato adjunct scholar Andrew Grossman said that in its earlier decision upholding New York’s actions, the Second US Circuit Court of Appeals had “provided a road map for officials to circumvent the First Amendment’s protection for freedom of speech.” It was that Second Circuit ruling that the high court vacated and remanded yesterday,

In January, Andrew Grossman and I did a Cato Podcast with Caleb Brown previewing the case. On the podcast, The Reload, Cato adjunct scholar Robert Corn‐​Revere examined the stance of the US Justice Department, which weighed in on behalf of a somewhat narrower interpretation of First Amendment protection.

“The amusing part,” I wrote in 2020, “is that the public officials themselves are helping to provide the basis for these rulings by tweeting and speechifying about how much damage they intend to do the NRA.” I cited cases in California in which responsible officials had been even more candid than had been New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo about their motivations. And a Cato briefing paper last October by Andrew Grossman and Kristin Shapiro put the case into context of other efforts by government officials to jawbone or simply coerce private parties into constricting others’ speech.

0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
previous post
New Medicaid Regulations Unlikely to Improve Accessibility and Transparency
next post
Tech Stocks Sell Off, But AI Shines!

You may also like

Work Requirements in SNAP

April 24, 2023

Meta Makes Major Moves to Advance Free Expression...

January 9, 2025

Jack Dorsey on Why Social Media’s Future Should...

May 21, 2024

Questioning the Housing Crisis: A First Look at...

December 10, 2024

The Time to Prepare for AI Financial Agents...

February 7, 2025

How DOJ Helps Federal Prosecutors Escape Accountability &...

January 29, 2025

Voters in Four States Chose to Continue Infringing...

November 6, 2024

The President Has a Duty to End the...

March 21, 2025

House Passes Repeal of Indefinite Detention Provision via...

June 13, 2024

Trump’s Toast, Folks

August 16, 2023

Work Requirements in SNAP

April 24, 2023

Meta Makes Major Moves to Advance Free Expression...

January 9, 2025

Jack Dorsey on Why Social Media’s Future Should...

May 21, 2024

Questioning the Housing Crisis: A First Look at...

December 10, 2024

The Time to Prepare for AI Financial Agents...

February 7, 2025

How DOJ Helps Federal Prosecutors Escape Accountability &...

January 29, 2025

Voters in Four States Chose to Continue Infringing...

November 6, 2024

The President Has a Duty to End the...

March 21, 2025

House Passes Repeal of Indefinite Detention Provision via...

June 13, 2024

Trump’s Toast, Folks

August 16, 2023

    Get free access to all of the retirement secrets and income strategies from our experts! or Join The Exclusive Subscription Today And Get the Premium Articles Acess for Free

    By opting in you agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Your information is secure and your privacy is protected.

    Recent Posts

    • Data Security Posture Management – The Next Big Data Solution Your Business Needs (And How to Get Started)

      July 7, 2025
    • Bondi under siege after DOJ reveals no Epstein client list

      July 7, 2025
    • Over 158 million Americans voted in 2024 as Trump reclaimed the White House

      July 7, 2025
    • US ends terrorist designation of Syrian militant leaders

      July 7, 2025
    • Haitian Immigrants Have a Low Incarceration Rate

      July 7, 2025
    • Sen. Steve Daines says regime change is the best long-term plan in Iran

      July 7, 2025

    Categories

    • Business (8,410)
    • Investing (2,105)
    • Politics (15,957)
    • Stocks (3,192)
    • About us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Disclaimer: futureretirementsuccess.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    Copyright © 2025 futureretirementsuccess.com | All Rights Reserved