The Supreme Court’s unanimous decision touches on free speech and the rights of regulators to not be coerced.
The Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision on Thursday in favor of the National Rifle Association (NRA) as part of a First Amendment case National Rifle Association v. Vullo, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson suggesting how a circuit court should hear future arguments.
The NRA, the petitioner in this case, sued former superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services, Maria Vullo, who was alleged to have pressured DFS-regulated entities to cut ties with the NRA to punish the association’s standing and suppress its gun-promotion advocacy—essentially violating free speech rights.
While the Second Circuit ruled Vullo’s purported actions as permissible government speech and legitimate law enforcement, the Supreme Court’s nine justices said the NRA’s allegations, if true, violated the organization’s First Amendment rights.
The case has been remanded to the Second Circuit, which the Court said « is free to reconsider whether Vullo is entitled to qualified immunity. »
Justices Neil Gorsuch and Jackson wrote concurring opinions.
