Brewer, Volokh Comment on First Amendment Case
November 26, 2024 – Firm Partner William A. Brewer and First Amendment scholar Eugene Volokh posted an update on the NRA’s First Amendment lawsuit against former New York financial regulator Maria T. Vullo. The report appears on REASON, as a segment of Professor Volokh’s blog, “The Volokh Conspiracy.”
In setting the stage for a successful appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, the two write, “We were joined by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), as the NRA appealed this ruling to the United States Supreme Court for the NRA. In a rebuke from a unanimous Court, Justice Sonia Sotomayor revived the NRA's claims this past June, emphasizing decades of precedent that "[a] government official cannot coerce a private party to punish or suppress disfavored speech on her behalf." Moreover, the Court said, Vullo's alleged conduct struck at the heart of this prohibition. In light of the Court's guidance on the First Amendment merits of the NRA's allegations, Sotomayor added, the Second Circuit was free to reconsider the issue of qualified immunity, i.e., whether Vullo's alleged violations were such that the NRA should be able to sue her individually for damages.”
Read the report here.
Law360 Names Brewer Firm "Legal Lions of the Week"
June 1, 2024 — Law360 has named Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors one of its "Legal Lions of the Week" after the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled for Brewer client the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) in its First Amendment case against a former New York state regulator.
The recognition noted that the NRA is represented by The NRA is represented by William Brewer III, Sarah Rogers and Noah Peters of Brewer Attorneys & Counselors.
Law360 writes that, “In a unanimous decision, the high court said Thursday that the NRA sufficiently showed that former New York Financial Services Superintendent Maria T. Vullo likely breached the group's First Amendment protections through the collective actions the NRA accused her of taking against banks and insurance agencies affiliated with it.”
Read more here.
National Media Report on Brewer Client NRA Scoring Landmark Supreme Court Victory
May 30, 2024 – Major media outlets are reporting on the unanimous Supreme Court decision finding in favor of the National Rifle Association (NRA) in a First Amendment case in which Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors represented the NRA.
The New York Times reports that Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote the decision finding that the NRA plausibly claimed a violation of the First Amendment, which now sends the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York.
The Hill also reports that the NRA can move forward in its “free speech fight” against Maria Vullo, the former superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS), over her encouragement of insurers and banks she regulated to cut ties with the NRA. The Hill reports that the NRA maintains those actions were unconstitutional government coercion.
USA Today reports that the NRA will get another chance to “punish” New York regulators who discouraged insurers and bankers from doing business with the NRA. The article noted that Justice Sotomayor wrote in her decision that, "Ultimately, the critical takeaway is that the First Amendment prohibits government officials from wielding their power selectively to punish or suppress speech, directly or, as alleged here, through private intermediaries.”
CNN reports that the decision will provide clarity to both liberal and conservative regulators about how far they may go in pressuring companies that do business with certain advocacy groups.
“This is a landmark victory for the NRA and all who care about our First Amendment freedom,” William A. Brewer III, counsel to the NRA, said in a statement quoted by CNN. “The opinion confirms what the NRA has known all along: New York government officials abused the power of their office to silence a political enemy.”
New Republic Reports that NRA Appears to “Notch Another Victory” at Supreme Court
March 19, 2024 –New Republic Staff Writer Matt Ford writes that Supreme Court justices appear ready to side with the NRA in its First Amendment case against former New York State Department of Financial Services Superintendent Maria Vullo.
He writes in the article following the Supreme Court arguments in the matter that, "By the end of the arguments, it was clear that whatever uncertain winds were swirling at the outset had shifted decidedly in the NRA’s favor.”
Ford writes that it is “hardly surprising” that the NRA would interpret Vullo’s actions as “unconstitutional threats,” noting that he previously wrote describing former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s campaign against the NRA as being blunt and heavy-handed, and Cuomo’s messaging about the NRA as “particularly venomous.” Ford predicted that the former governor’s “overheated rhetoric and ham-fisted tactics will backfire when the court hands down a ruling by the end of June.”
The Brewer firm has represented the NRA on this matter since its inception, advocating alongside First Amendment scholar Eugene Volokh and the ACLU.
The New York Times: Justices Seem Likely to Side with NRA in First Amendment Dispute
March 18, 2024 – The New York Times reports that a "majority of the Supreme Court appeared on Monday to embrace arguments by the National Rifle Association that a New York State official violated the First Amendment" when she encouraged banks and insurance agencies to cut ties with the gun rights organization in 2018.
The Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, NRA v. Maria T. Vullo, in November 2023 after the Second Circuit dismissed the NRA's claims against Vullo, the former head of the New York State Department of Financial Services.
“It was a campaign by the state’s highest political officials to use their power to coerce a boycott of a political advocacy organization because they disagreed with its advocacy,” said David D. Cole, the national legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), who argued on behalf of the NRA. He added that the officials’ actions had cost the group “millions of dollars.”
The Times reports that Solicitor General Elizabeth B. Prelogar described some of the NRA's claims as plausible in a friend-of-the-court brief, specifically that Vullo may have crossed a constitutional line "by coercing regulated entities to terminate their business relationships" with the NRA.
The Brewer firm has represented the NRA on this matter since its inception, advocating alongside First Amendment scholar Eugene Volokh and the ACLU.