• NRA 1st Amendment Case

    From Mike Powell@1:2320/105 to All on Wed Dec 20 17:57:40 2023
    SOURCE: Reuters

    https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-supreme-court-hear-nra-free-speech-case-agains t-new-york-official-2023-11-03/

    http://tinyurl.com/bdf3b2aw

    US Supreme Court to hear NRA free speech case against New York official

    "The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday (Nov 3) 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.

    "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 said in court papers her statements encouraging financial institutions to examine their ties to pro-gun organizations following the Parkland shooting had not 'crossed the line between permissible persuasion and unconstitutional coercion.'

    "A federal judge in 2021 dismissed all claims apart from two free speech claims against Vullo. The Manhattan-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2022 said those also should have been dismissed, prompting the NRA's Supreme Court appeal."

    This news is somewhat old, except that more recently the national-level ACLU has become involved (on the side of the NRA) which has caused other state and regional chapters (in NY and Northern California) to attempt to distance themselves from the national ACLU;s decision. That has brought it back into the news. A decision from the SCOTUS won't likely come until June, 2024.

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  • From Aaron Thomas@1:342/200 to Mike Powell on Wed Dec 20 20:45:44 2023
    "Vullo said in court papers her statements encouraging financial institutions to examine their ties to pro-gun organizations following
    the Parkland shooting had not 'crossed the line between permissible persuasion and unconstitutional coercion.'

    A couple questions about this:

    1) What's "permissible persuasion?" It sounds ridiculous. Can I permissibly persuade the banks to boycott people who have donated to Democrats?

    2) I pay taxes in NY. How is it that revenue from my tax money is getting wasted on paying people to "persuade banks" to treat my buddies (the NRA) like garbage? I'd rather pay to have more cops patrolling the increasingly dangerous streets.

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  • From Mike Powell@1:2320/105 to AARON THOMAS on Thu Dec 21 09:12:00 2023
    "Vullo said in court papers her statements encouraging financial institutions to examine their ties to pro-gun organizations following the Parkland shooting had not 'crossed the line between permissible persuasion and unconstitutional coercion.'

    A couple questions about this:

    1) What's "permissible persuasion?" It sounds ridiculous. Can I permissibly pe
    uade the banks to boycott people who have donated to Democrats?

    You probably could because you do not hold any office where you could
    punish financial institutions for not going along with your persuasion. I think that is what is at question here.

    2) I pay taxes in NY. How is it that revenue from my tax money is getting wast
    on paying people to "persuade banks" to treat my buddies (the NRA) like garba
    ? I'd rather pay to have more cops patrolling the increasingly dangerous stree
    .

    If you go to the link, it includes some additional info on things that
    Vullo's office did to disuade financial institutions from doing business
    with the NRA. I would agree, money was potentially being wasted that could have been used to go after institutions that were actually violating the
    law.


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