National Review Publishes Editorial in Support of NRA’s Legal Advocacy
On January 8, 2020, the National Review published an editorial by legal writer Walter Olson that supports the legal advocacy of the firm and its client, the National Rifle Association.
In the editorial, “Progressive Governments’ Economic War on the NRA Fails in Court,” Olson addresses efforts by government officials in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York to "take down the hated National Rifle Association by targeting its pocketbook."
Olson observes that San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York are "facing a legal reckoning in court, based not on the Second Amendment but on the First. Without needing to even consider the issue of gun rights, federal courts are recognizing that boycotts enforced by government power can menace free speech and free association."
Olson places particular emphasis on the NRA’s advocacy against Governor Cuomo and New York State regulators. He observes, “While Cuomo was of course free to express his own views, the Constitution would have something to say about it if he or his appointees had made veiled threats against banks and insurers to encourage them to disassociate from the NRA.”
National Review Columnist Endorses Firm’s New York Lawsuit on Behalf of NRA
Columnist David French published a commentary in the National Review, “To Limit the Second Amendment, New York Attacks the First,” dated August 7, 2018, that offers support of a lawsuit filed by the NRA against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS). Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors represents the NRA in the matter.
The suit alleges that the state violated the NRA’s First Amendment rights in connection with regulatory guidance issued to financial institutions urging them to not do business with the NRA. French writes that Governor Cuomo has no right to threaten financial institutions that do business with the NRA.
French writes, “State officials have their own free-speech rights, yes, but those free-speech rights do not include the right to use express or implied threats to wield state power against disfavored viewpoints.” In comments directed at Cuomo, he wrote that “the instant that malice translates into state action aimed at speech is the instant the Constitution holds you to account.”