Supreme Court Unanimously Rules for NRA in Free Speech Case | The Epoch Times
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the National Rifle Association plausibly alleged that a former New York state official violated the First Amendment by pressuring insurance companies to cut ties with the gun rights organization.
“A government official can share her views freely and criticize particular beliefs, and she can do so forcefully in the hopes of persuading others to follow her lead,” Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in the majority opinion on May 30.
“In doing so, she can rely on the merits and force of her ideas, the strength of her convictions, and her ability to inspire others. What she cannot do, however, is use the power of the State to punish or suppress disfavored expression,” she added.
This isn’t the end of the game. This just means it goes back down to the lower court to go through the trial process.
Can the offender be held personally liable for violating the rights of others?
If not, then this ruling is really hollow as this criminal suffers no penalty and is free to violate the law again.
And again.
And again.
Not only do the criminals go unpunished but the Circuit judges suffer no penalty for a blatantly unconstitutional action.
Correct. But in this case, the NRA is the plaintiff and the Second Circuit had decided that the case should be dismissed because “free speech”.
As others have pointed out, it kind of looked like the Second Circuit saw who the parties were and made their decision before arguments and briefs were ever heard.
Good on SCOTUS for setting the record straight. Unanimous decisions speak loudly; that official in New York was so far out of line, even Justice KBJ couldn’t defend it.