US Supreme Court to hear NRA free speech case against New York official
By Andrew Chung
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to decide whether a New York state official stifled the ability of the National Rifle Association to exercise free speech rights protected by the Constitution's First Amendment by pressuring banks and insurers to avoid doing business with the influential gun rights group.
The justices took up the NRA's appeal of a lower court's decision to throw out the group's lawsuit against Maria Vullo, a former superintendent of New York's Department of Financial Services. It represents the latest case to come before the Supreme Court involving the NRA, a group closely aligned with Republicans that has opposed gun control measures and backed pivotal lawsuits that have widened U.S. gun rights.
The NRA was founded in New York in 1871 and was incorporated as a non-profit in the state. Its 2018 lawsuit, seeking unspecified monetary damages, accused Vullo of unlawfully retaliating against the NRA for its constitutionally protected gun rights advocacy by targeting the group with an «implicit censorship regime.»
At issue was whether Vullo wielded her regulatory power to coerce New York financial institutions into cutting ties with the NRA in violation of its First Amendment rights.
Vullo in 2018 called upon banks and insurers to consider the «reputational risks» of doing business with gun rights groups following another U.S. mass shooting — this one involving 17 people killed at a high school in Parkland, Florida.
She later fined Lloyd's of London and two other insurers more than $13 million for offering an NRA-endorsed product called «Carry Guard» that Vullo's office found was in violation of New York insurance law. The product provided liability coverage for
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