{"id":111283,"date":"2025-07-21T15:28:42","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T20:28:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=111283"},"modified":"2025-07-21T15:28:42","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T20:28:42","slug":"111283","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=111283","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/townhall.com\/tipsheet\/jeff-charles\/2025\/07\/21\/new-york-official-who-coerced-nras-insurance-companies-avoids-consequences-due-to-qualified-immunity-n2660602\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">This Government Official Tried to Punish the NRA\u2014Now the Court Just Gave Her a Free Pass<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"isPasted\" dir=\"ltr\">Remember when a New York state official used her position to pressure financial institutions to stop working with the National Rifle Association (NRA)? Well, a federal appeals court seems to believe she should not be held accountable for blatantly violating the organization\u2019s constitutional rights.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The Second Circuit Court of Appeals\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ww3.ca2.uscourts.gov\/decisions\/isysquery\/0d9d7e36-b56a-4a0a-a3a9-b3b970584174\/1\/doc\/21-636_2_opn_.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ruled<\/a>\u00a0last week that former Superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services Maria Vullo is entitled to be protected by qualified immunity.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">And we wonder why our government officials are so corrupt.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In its lawsuit, the NRA alleged that Vullo \u201cused [her] powers to coerce and retaliate against financial institutions that conducted business with the NRA to deprive the NRA and its members of their First Amendment rights.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The court acknowledged that Vullo\u2019s statements and guidance letters prompted these companies to reassess their business relationships with the NRA. However, the court decided Vullo is entitled to qualified immunity because she did not directly target the NRA\u2019s speech. Instead, she sought to coerce banks and insurance companies to cut ties with the organization, which harmed the NRA indirectly.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">In essence, the court pointed out that Vullo was targeting the NRA\u2019s business relationships, not its speech, which means it wasn\u2019t obvious that her actions violated the First Amendment. \u201cVullo is not alleged to have targeted a speaker (the NRA) or a conduit for the NRA\u2019s speech (for example, a publisher) but third-party, regulated entities,\u201d the court stated.<\/p>\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1945892611933499784&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Ftownhall.com%2Ftipsheet%2Fjeff-charles%2F2025%2F07%2F21%2Fnew-york-official-who-coerced-nras-insurance-companies-avoids-consequences-due-to-qualified-immunity-n2660602&amp;sessionId=550a8f7b771812d0de591ec3c896338cb7cbefdf&amp;siteScreenName=townhallcom&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1945892611933499784\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The court\u2019s argument was predicated on the notion that Vullo\u2019s actions did not violate a law that was \u201cclearly established\u201d at the time she was targeting these companies. To put it simply, the qualified immunity doctrine protects government officials unless they broke a law that was so well-defined that a reasonable official would know they were breaking it.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><!--more--><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">Since there is no law that explicitly says, \u201cthou shalt not pressure financial institutions to stop doing business with a nonprofit you don\u2019t like because you\u2019re an anti-gun tyrant,\u201d Vullo is entitled to qualified immunity. The court admitted that Vullo\u2019s actions were likely unconstitutional, but since no other court had clearly said this, she cannot be held liable.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201c[I]t would make little sense to hold that a reasonable officer in Vullo\u2019s position should have known\u2026 that her conduct violated the NRA\u2019s First Amendment rights,\u201d the judges argued. In other words, if appellate judges could not agree on the issue until the Supreme Court actually established the boundary, someone like Vullo could not be reasonably expected to know it either.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how government officials get away with corruption \u2014 with a qualified immunity doctrine that makes it nearly impossible to hold them accountable.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The US Supreme Court did rule in the NRA\u2019s favor last year. In a 9-0 decision, the court said the organization\u2019s lawsuit could go forward. However, \u201cThe question of whether a plaintiff has adequately alleged a First Amendment violation is distinct from the question of whether the defendant is entitled to qualified immunity based on existing precedent,\u201d according to the court.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The ruling was met with derision from pro-gun advocates. Patrick Jaicomo, a civil rights litigator with the Institute for Justice, argued that the ruling shows just how problematic qualified immunity is.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">\u201cThis decision illustrates the broad reach of qualified immunity,\u201d Jaicomo told Townhall. \u201cWhile many incorrectly believe the doctrine shields police in dangerous situations, the reality is that qualified immunity shields all government employees not matter how bad their behavior or intentions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">This is the crux of the matter. The government has become quite adept at protecting itself when it clearly violates our constitutional rights. Whether the perpetrator is a police officer, state official, prosecutor, or any other position, they should not be able to get away with infringing on our constitutional rights. Yet, this happens quite often because they know they will never face accountability. It is difficult to argue that we live in a free country when our government makes it nearly impossible for its officials to face consequences when they engage in illegal behavior.<\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\">The bottom line is that when \u201claw and order\u201d only applies to everyday Americans and not government officials, we are far from having a society that values liberty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This Government Official Tried to Punish the NRA\u2014Now the Court Just Gave Her a Free Pass Remember when a New York state official used her position to pressure financial institutions to stop working with the National Rifle Association (NRA)? Well, a federal appeals court seems to believe she should not be held accountable for blatantly &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=111283\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-corruption","category-courts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=111283"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111283\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":111284,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111283\/revisions\/111284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=111283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=111283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=111283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}