January 15, 2024 – Eighteen members of the United States Senate and 63 members of the United States House of Representatives today submitted a joint amicus brief in support of the National Rifle Association of America's (NRA) federal lawsuit against Maria Vullo, the former superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS). The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hear the case in March or April.
The NRA is represented in the case by Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and First Amendment scholar Eugene Volokh.
In a May 2018 lawsuit, the NRA alleged that Vullo, at the behest of former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, took aim at the NRA and conspired to use DFS' regulatory power to “financially blacklist” the NRA – coercing banks and insurers to cut ties with the Association to suppress its pro-Second Amendment speech.
“This campaign singled out the NRA’s financial relationships on account of the organization’s First Amendment-protected advocacy for gun rights, speech Vullo maligned as ‘promot[ing] guns that lead to senseless violence,’” the brief reads.
Senator Ted Budd (R-NC) told The Washington Times, “Left-wing New York state officials have attempted to weaponize the state government to punish a political group purely because they believe in Second Amendment rights. This blatantly unconstitutional action fundamentally undermines the right of free speech and equal justice under law. Other states and jurisdictions are no doubt watching.”
Sen. Budd and Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) led the effort to file the brief.
“If New York state can financially blacklist a large organization like the NRA, what’s to stop a smaller group in another state from facing the same threat and not having the ability to defend itself? The Constitution’s basic tenets are at stake in this case, and I’m proud to team up with my friend Rep. Hudson to defend the First Amendment right of freedom of expression,” Sen. Budd said.
“This blatant attempt by Left-wing officials in New York to harass advocacy groups and suppress free speech should concern every American,” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) told The Times. “We must stop government agencies from weaponizing their power to undermine our constitutionally protected freedoms.”
To read the brief, click here.