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.