CODVIP online slots
riobet After N.R.A.’s Supreme Court Win, a Dispute Over Key Facts
Earlier this year, the sharply divided Supreme Court came together to decide unanimously in favor of the National Rifle Association. The N.R.A., the justices ruled, could pursue its claim that a New York State regulator had infringed on its First Amendment rights when she sought to discourage insurers and banks from doing business with the gun group after the 2018 school massacre in Parklandriobet, Fla.
The ruling was a coup for the N.R.A., mired in years of litigation, scandal and deepening financial woes. The gun group’s lawyer called it “a landmark victory for the N.R.A. and all who care about our First Amendment freedom,” while its board president wrote in a recent internal letter that “the N.R.A. is poised to collect nearly $100 million in damages."
There is, however, a new wrinkle: The two women said to be the primary participants in a secret meeting described in the N.R.A. complaint, and pivotal to the Supreme Court ruling, say it never took place. While the veracity of the allegations has no bearing on the Supreme Court ruling, several legal experts said it could become a steep hurdle as the N.R.A.’s lawsuit makes its way back through the lower courts.
The case before the high court was a test of how far government advocacy could go before crossing a line into coercion. The court’s opinion, written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, said that while government officials could share “views freely and criticize particular beliefs,” they could not “use the power of the state to punish or suppress disfavored expression.”
The ruling drew on an account of the supposed secret meeting, detailed in the N.R.A.’s lawsuit, between Maria T. Vullo, New York’s top financial regulator at the time, and Inga Beale, then chief executive of Lloyd’s of London, as well as a Lloyd’s lawyer. In the opinion’s third paragraph, Justice Sotomayor wrote that “Vullo met with senior executives at Lloyd’s” on Feb. 27, 2018, and “expressed her views in favor of gun control.” Further, Ms. Vullo was said to have told the Lloyd’s chief that if the insurer “ceased providing insurance to gun groups, especially the N.R.A.,” regulators would become “less interested” in pursuing regulatory infractions involving Lloyd’s.
But in interviews and emails, both Ms. Vullo and Ms. Beale told The New York Times that they first met several months after the purported meeting, and then only at an industry awards luncheon where they exchanged pleasantries.
We are having trouble retrieving the article content.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.riobet