Supreme Court unanimous decision NRA v. Uro Not surprising. It’s no surprise that Chief Justice Roberts assigned the case to Justice Sotomayor. Sheiks like optics, and nothing exemplifies bipartisanship more than an Obama nominee ruling in favor of the NRA against her former home state. In fact, if I had to guess, this is not Justice Sotomayor’s favorite assignment—she would probably prefer to write an Employee Retirement Income Security Act opinion. But one feature of majority rule may have allowed Justice Sotomayor to delay some gratification.
flashback Trump v. Hawaii. One of the main issues in the case is the extent to which courts should consider tweets by candidates and President Trump related to the travel ban. I heard Justice Sotomayor read her dissent in court, which focused on these social media posts. She couldn’t understand why most people turned a blind eye to the tweets. Chief Justice Roberts, as always, simply put a test in which he admitted the tweets but found they were not dispositive. But he vetoed Korematsuso just look at it from a different angle!
Fast forward to NRA v. Uro, another First Amendment case alleging improper motive. The only surviving defendant is Maria Vullo, the former director of New York’s Department of Financial Services (DFS). Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo was also indicted, but the case was later dismissed. But from Justice Sotomayor’s perspective, you wouldn’t think so. She quoted Cuomo over and over again, including in his social media posts.
On February 27, Vullo met with Lloyd’s executives. There, speaking on behalf of DFS and then-Governor Andrew CuomoVullo” proposed [their] views on gun control and their desire to use their power to crack down on the supply of guns, particularly by weakening the National Rifle Association.
On the same day DFS released its guidance letter, Vullo and Gov. como A joint press release was issued, echoing many of the statements in the letter. The press release quoted Vullo as saying “‘urg[ing] All insurance companies and banks doing business in New York” join those “that have terminated their arrangements with the NRA.” ”…
The press release cited Chubb’s decision to discontinue coverage of Carry Guard as an example to follow. the next day, Cuomo tweeted: “‘The National Rifle Association is an extremist organization. I urge companies in New York State to reexamine any relationship they have with the NRA and consider their reputation and responsibility to the public.’”…
Follow-up tweets from como reiterated the message: New York businesses should “‘consider their reputations,'” and “‘reexamine any ties they have to the National Rifle Association,'” which he called an “‘extremist organization.'”…
Let’s go, boss Governor CuomoIt also urged businesses to disassociate themselves from the NRA, putting the organization “in financial jeopardy” and “shut them down.” Apps. 21 (Tweet, August 3, 2018). …
Why is so much being said about Cuomo when he wasn’t even at the party? Isn’t Vullo’s action enough to clear it up? Iqbal bar? I have a heavy feeling that Judge Sotomayor is laying the groundwork for future Trump lawsuits and that the CEO’s social media posts may be used to taint actions taken by certain Cabinet members. Likewise, there will almost certainly be claims that President Trump and his administration will take some kind of retaliatory or coercive action over protected speech. Now, there is a clear precedent. this Uro The decision was unanimous, so I’m sure the Fourth, Ninth, and D.C. Circuits will happily cite it. (Remember, if Trump wins, everyone will switch sides in forum shopping.)
I was one of those people who received such a call from Governor Cuomo. Regarding Justice Jackson’s dissent, I personally experienced the subtle “line from persuasion to coercion.”
