September 23, 2022 – Law 360 and several other media outlets quoted William A. Brewer III in connection with recent developments regarding the NRA’s lawsuit against former New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) Superintendent Maria Vullo. A panel of three Democratic appointees in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed repeated holdings by the trial judge in the NRA’s First Amendment case against Vullo – and dismissed the claims against Vullo individually.
The case stems from the 2018 “blacklisting campaign” against the NRA, in which, the NRA alleges, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Vullo attempted to coerce banks and other financial institutions from doing business with the NRA.
The NRA is investigating its options, under belief that the Second Circuit’s decision misstates facts of the case and gravely weakens First Amendment protection for controversial speakers who wish to access financial markets.
Brewer told Law 360, "The Second Circuit's decision regarding the NRA's claims against Ms. Vullo misstates the facts, and offends the First Amendment. "[The decision] endorses a radical idea: that financial regulators can selectively punish businesses to advance 'public policy,' including 'social issues' such as gun control. This is a derogation of the First Amendment that should not prevail."
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