New York Law Journal Reports on NRA Cert Petition to SCOTUS
February 8, 2023 — The New York Law Journal reports that Brewer client the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to consider its suit against former New York Department of Financial Services Superintendent Maria Vullo, "whom the gun-rights advocacy group accused of threatening insurers because they did business with the NRA."
According to the NRA, Vullo and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo engineered a 2018 “blacklisting campaign” against the NRA. The Association filed a lawsuit in May 2018, alleging the campaign was retaliation for the NRA’s viewpoint of speech. The State of New York filed a Motion to Dismiss, and, on November 6, 2018, U.S. District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy issued a highly-anticipated decision, which upheld the NRA’s First Amendment freedom-of-speech claims — the crux of its complaint. That decision was overturned by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on September 22, 2022.
The New York Law Journal notes that the petition for a writ of certiorari was signed by NRA's counsel, William Brewer III, and First Amendment scholar and law professor Eugene Volokh. Together, they argue that the Second Circuit’s opinion “gives state officials free rein to financially blacklist their political opponents—from gun-rights groups, to abortion-rights groups, to environmentalist groups, and beyond.”
“It also permits selective investigations and penalties targeting business arrangements with disfavored speakers, even where the regulator premises its hostility explicitly on an entity’s political speech and treats leniently, or exempts, identical transactions with customers who lack controversial views,” they wrote.
Brewer told the Journal that reversal of the Second Circuit’s ruling is “important not only to the NRA but all advocacy groups that rely upon the protections of the First Amendment.”
New York Law Journal, Others Report on NRA Victory
On March 4, 2022, a front-page article in the New York Law Journal, “Manhattan Judge Rejects NY AG’s Effort to Dissolve National Rifle Association,” reported that a ruling by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Joel Cohen dismissed New York Attorney General Letitia James’ effort to dissolve the organization.
The report noted that Cohen found that dissolving the NRA “could impinge, at least indirectly, on the free speech and assembly rights of millions of members” of the NRA.
The report added that NRA lead attorney William Brewer applauded the ruling, stating that, “This is a victory not only for the NRA, but all who believe in the right to free speech and association.”
The article follows positive reports from many news organizations, including the Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and the Daily Caller, among others. To read more in the NYLJ, click here.
New York Law Journal: NRA Files Motion to Dismiss New York AG's Lawsuit for Dissolution
On September 16, 2021, The New York Law Journal and other media outlets reported that firm client the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) has filed a Motion to Dismiss the New York Attorney General's (NYAG) Amended Complaint, filed on August 16, 2021. The Motion to Dismiss claims that the NYAG seeks to dissolve the NRA in an effort to "silence the constitutionally guaranteed political speech of its 5 million members."
“Since taking office in 2019, the Attorney General has ignored evidence that dissolution is improper and that the NRA Board of Directors acted appropriately at all times,” William Brewer, counsel to the NRA, told the Journal. “The NRA will continue to confront this partisan attack—in the interest of its members and the Second Amendment freedom for which they stand.”
The NYAG's office initially filed its dissolution lawsuit in August 2020, claiming that the NRA misused funds for the personal gain of its top executives. In its Motion to Dismiss, the NRA argues that "[e]ven if the allegations against current and former executives are taken as true (as they must be, for purposes of this Motion), the NRA and its Board would be the victims of the alleged wrongdoing—not perpetrators."
The Motion to Dismiss also notes that a "federal bankruptcy court found after a review of voluminous evidence, that the NRA has undertaken a sustained effort to improve its internal compliance procedures and is in position to continue fulfilling its mission."
“The Texas federal court expressly concluded that the NRA is well-placed to continue improving governance and internal controls and to fulfill its mission, as it has since its whistleblowers came forward,” Brewer wrote. “These findings comprehensively undermine the NYAG’s contrived narrative of an organization rife with corruption that is unable to reform itself and that must, therefore, be dissolved.”
New York Law Journal: Judge's Ruling Allows NRA's First Amendment Claims to Proceed
On March 15, 2021, the New York Law Journal reported that a ruling by U.S. District Judge Thomas McAvoy of the Northern District of New York allows the NRA's First Amendment claims against New York state officials to move forward with discovery.
The lawsuit argues that New York state officials violated the NRA's First Amendment rights to express its political views.
“This important decision reaffirms that all public officials, even Gov. Cuomo and Maria Vullo, the former superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services, are accountable under the First Amendment,” said William Brewer, counsel to the NRA. “It will allow the NRA to pursue discovery and bring important evidence to light—to expose the communications and coordinated efforts of New York officials and others to harm the NRA and impinge its Constitutional freedoms. The message is clear: the NRA will stand up to those who unlawfully interfere with its Second Amendment advocacy.”
The article reports that Judge McAvoy denied qualified immunity to former New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) superintendent Maria Vullo, noting that "a question of material fact exists" as to whether Vullo "explicitly threatened" an insurer with DFS enforcement unless it broke ties with the NRA.
New York Law Journal: NRA Seeks to Move New York Attorney General's Lawsuit Out of New York
On November 13, 2020, the New York Law Journal reported that the NRA is "battling in court on two fronts to move a high-profile lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James" out of New York City.
The report states that the NRA, which is represented by Brewer, has asked the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) to "send four federal lawsuits focused on its financial troubles to a courtroom in North Texas."
The NYLJ reports that William A. Brewer III, counsel to the NRA, acknowledged that the request to move, among others, the lawsuit filed by James, is "a bit unusual." However, he contends that without an MDL, depositions in the various cases will be a "nightmare" for the NRA.
“This is not typical, but I don’t think it’s a stretch either,” Brewer said of his motion.
“We’re trying to make sure we get everything in the right forum,” he said. “We don’t have any concern with the venues for trial. It’s rather that the cases should be coordinated given the significant overlap in pretrial activities, so that the documents, the depositions and pretrial activities are available in all those cases.”
New York Law Journal Reports on New Documents Obtained in Case Against State of New York
On December 23, 2019, the New York Law Journal published the report, “NRA Secures New Documents in Bid to Revive Selective Enforcement Claims Against NY Officials.” The report states that the NRA "says it’s obtained new information that proves state officials in New York acted deliberately, and unlawfully, to strangle the gun lobby group of its financial resources because of its positions on gun control measures."
“The NRA has troubling new information that underscores the true motives of the State’s actions,” said William A. Brewer III, partner at Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors and lead counsel for the NRA. “Our client is determined to bring this evidence to light – to expose the backroom meetings and communications that were essential to Defendant’s scheme to silence and harm the NRA by any means necessary.”
According to a December 20 legal filing, documents obtained by the NRA show the state singled out its insurance products for sanctions while ignoring other policies with similar violations.
The Journal reports that evidence from those documents was included in a new version of the NRA’s lawsuit against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the state Department of Financial Services, and Maria Vullo, the former superintendent of that agency.
NRA Allowed to Depose Former DFS Superintendent - New York Law Journal
The New York Law Journal reports that the National Rifle Association will be allowed to depose former New York Department of Financial Services Superintendent Maria Vullo in the group’s lawsuit against the state over what it has argued was a violation of its free speech rights and selective enforcement of the state’s insurance regulations. The article, “NRA Allowed to Depose Former DFS Superintendent Vullo in Lawsuit Against NY,” explained that the decision from U.S. Magistrate Judge Christian Hummel is significant. The article states, “It’s rare that high-ranking state or federal officials are required to testify as part of any litigation. They’re often granted immunity from testimony as a high-ranking government official.”
“Today’s ruling is gratifying, and correct. As the head of a major financial regulator, Ms. Vullo singled out the NRA to suppress its speech. She should answer questions regarding this conduct,” said William A. Brewer III, partner at Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors and lead counsel for the NRA. “This is a significant development for the advocacy of the NRA. We are anxious to discover all the facts and bring them into open view—to the benefit of the Association and the First Amendment.”
NYLJ Reports that NRA’s Lawsuit Against Gov. Cuomo Moves Forward
The New York Law Journal reports that a lawsuit brought by firm client the National Rifle Association (NRA) on First Amendment claims against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Department of Financial Services (DFS) will move forward. The November 6, 2018, article reports that “U.S. District Judge Thomas McAvoy of the Northern District of New York wrote in a lengthy decision that the NRA’s claims that actions by Cuomo and Department of Financial Services Superintendent Maria Vullo stifled its free speech were sufficient enough to be evaluated at trial.”
The highly-anticipated decision follows a hearing in Albany on September 10, 2018.
“This decision upholds not only the NRA’s First Amendment claims, but basic First Amendment principles,” said firm Partner William Brewer, lead attorney for the NRA in the matter. “The motion to dismiss was a misguided attempt to avoid addressing the substance of this case. As the court recognized, the NRA deserves its day in court – and we look forward to it. We are eager to proceed with discovery, which we believe will reveal more troubling facts about defendants’ abuse of state power to suppress opposing political views.”