Palmetto Promise Stands for the First and Second Amendments, Joins Amicus Brief

Palmetto Promise Institute is a co-amici in the following brief, filed in NRA v. Vullo. 

Advancing American Freedom, leading a coalition of 52 amici, filed an amicus brief in NRA v. Vullo, urging the Supreme Court to hear the case. In this case, the New York government pressured insurance companies to drop coverage of insurance plans they offered through the National Rifle Association (NRA), offering prosecutorial lenience if they did so. Last year, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Maria Vullo, the Superintendent of New York’s Department of Financial Services, had violated the NRA’s First Amendment rights.

However, on remand, the Second Circuit held that Maria Vullo was entitled to qualified immunity and thus was immune from civil liability. The NRA is asking the Supreme Court to hear its case once again and vindicate the organization’s First Amendment Rights.

“No government official should be able to use his or her office to pressure financial institutions to cease their association with a speaker because of that speaker’s First Amendment-protected views,” said AAF General Counsel J. Marc Wheat. “As we highlight in our brief, many government officials at both the state and federal level appear ready to use their power to silence views with which they disagree. We urge the Court to hear this important case–again– and rule for the NRA and, by extension, for every speaker and expressive organization in America.”