NRA v. Vullo (22-842)
argument 22-842NRA v. Vullo
Supreme Court of the United States
1h 14m
8 speakers
8 chapters
transcribed 7 days ago
official recording ↗
Transcript
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What is the central First Amendment issue in the NRA v. Vullo case?
We'll hear argument next in case twenty two eight forty two, National Rife Association versus Vulau. Mr Cole.
Mr Chief Justice, and may it please the Court. Government officials are free to urge people not to support political groups they oppose. What they cannot do is use their regulatory might to add or else to that request. Respondent Vulho did just that, not content to rely on the force of her ideas. She abused the coercive power of her office. In february twenty eighteen, she told Lloyds, the insurance underwriter, that she'd go easy on its unrelated insurance violations if it aided her campaign to weaken the NRA by halting all business with the group. Lloyd's agreed. Six weeks later she issued guidance letters and a press release. directing the thousands of banks and insurance companies that she directly oversees
to cut off their ties with the NRA. not because of any alleged illegality, Буквик. In the accompanying press release, Voulot's boss and co defendant, Governor Andrew Cuomo, said he directed Voulot to issue the guidance because doing business with the NRA quote sends the wrong message, unquote. Shortly thereafter, Vulau extracted legally binding consent orders from the NRA's three principal insurance providers, barring them from ever providing affinity insurance to the group ever again, no matter how lawfully they do so. These actions worked as multiple financial institutions refused to do business with the NRA, citing Voulu's threats. This was not about enforcing insurance law or mere government speech.
It was a campaign by the state's highest political officials to use their power to coerce a boycott of a political advocacy organization because they disagreed with its advocacy. Governor Cuomo essentially conceded as much in two tweets responding to this lawsuit in which he said, and I quote, The regulations New York put in place are working. We're forcing the NRA into financial jeopardy. We won't stop until we shut them down. It's time to put the gun lobby out of business. Hashtag bankrupt the NRA. At the motion to dismiss stage, the only question is whether these allegations taken as a whole plausibly plead a First Amendment claim. because Vullo chose coercion Over persuasion, they do. I welcome the Court's questions.
Uh Mr Cole, uh What uh is the speech here, protected speech that y uh you allege has uh been uh suppressed?
Promoting guns. advocating for gun rights, sending the wrong message. It is it is that s it was is precisely the speech of the NRA which caused Vullo and Cuomo to decide to target their uh their partners and seek to coerce them into boycotting the NRA. So they are seeking to penalize the NRA because of its speech advocating for gun rights.
So y your argument is that the sanctions on a third party uh suppress the speech of NRA?
Yeah, it it doesn't uh Your Honor, it doesn't re it the the the Court's First Amendment jurisprudence does not require proof of suppression. It requires proof of burden. If Vulh had imposed a $1 fine on the NRA for promoting guns, it would be unquestionably unconstitutional, even though it wouldn't actually suppress their speech. But here we have actually alleged, and this is at the motion dismiss stage, so the allegations are true, that the NRA has been has cost it has cost the NRA uh millions of dollars as a result of the kinds of um of of coercion that has been put in place here and That the NRA, like any other advocacy group, relies on banks, relies on sh insurance companies to be able to do their business.
And what is their business? Political advocacy.
Isn't the issue of coercion different though than the First Amendment question? I mean you are relying on I think Bantam Books, is that correct? a as I read that case, um, there were really two different things going on. There was an unconstitutional prior restraint and the court recognized that, um, and there was the implementation of that unconstitutional restraint through the means of government coercion. So if I'm right about that in terms of how we should be thinking about Bantam books, then don't we ha have two different questions here?
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the central First Amendment issue in the NRA v. Vullo case?
0:00–12:04
2
How does the argument define “coercion” versus ordinary regulatory persuasion?
12:04–22:52
3
Why are the Lloyd’s meeting and the guidance letters considered a single unit of government action?
22:52–35:19
4
What role do the consent decrees and alleged illegal insurance products play in the case?
35:19–47:41
5
How do the parties distinguish Bantam Books from retaliation claims under Nieves?
47:41–58:43
6
What is the proposed four‑part test for government coercion and First Amendment liability?
58:43–1:11:00
7
Why might the Supreme Court’s decision affect future enforcement actions against regulated entities?
1:11:00–1:14:01
8
What are the parties’ positions on absolute immunity for the officials involved?
1:14:01–1:14:25