May 31, 2024 – The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board writes on the unanimous opinion rendered by the Supreme Court in support of Brewer client the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) in its First Amendment case against a former New York regulator.
In the editorial, "A Unanimous Supreme Court Backs the NRA on Free Speech," the Board details the case, in which the NRA alleges that former New York State Department of Financial Services Superintendent Maria Vullo coerced financial institutions that she regulated to stop doing business with the NRA and other gun-rights groups.
Writing for the Court, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that Vullo's conduct “could be reasonably understood to convey a threat of adverse government action in order to punish or suppress speech.”
The editorial states, "Justice Sotomayor emphasizes that covert threats against private intermediaries are especially subversive of speech rights since 'intermediaries will often be less invested in the speaker’s message and thus less likely to risk the regulator’s ire.' When government officials abuse power behind closed doors, voters aren’t able to punish them at the ballot box."
The editorial continues, "The Court’s resounding ruling protects liberal and conservative advocacy alike. It puts government officials on notice that they can’t use their power to retaliate against and silence their opponents. In these hyper-partisan times, that’s an important message for the censors in the Biden Administration and those in a potential second Trump Presidency."
Read the full editorial here.