ACLU to defend NRA in unusual Supreme Court case

In their pursuit to defend individual freedoms and fight against government abuse, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) will be at the Supreme Court today to argue that a New York official violated the First Amendment when she issued “threatening” guidance to companies by advising them to cease conducting business with a nonprofit organisation.

On the surface, it seems uneventful that the ACLU would take up a case concerning First Amendment freedoms and government censorship.

But the nonprofit organisation the ACLU is defending happens to be the National Rifle Association (NRA), a gun rights advocacy group often accused of failing to support meaningful gun safety legislation.

The central issue in NRA v Vullo is not about the Second Amendment but the First Amendment – specifically whether government officials are permitted to threaten regulated entities with adverse action if they do business with a controversial speaker.

The ACLU and NRA’s collaboration is eyebrow-raising for many. But much like the necessary teamwork of Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter to capture a homicidal maniac, the two organisations believe that teaming up with an unusual partner is necessary for the greater good.

“While the ACLU stands in stark opposition to the NRA on many issues, it is representing the group to safeguard the First Amendment rights of all advocacy organizations,” the ACLU wrote in a press release.

NRA hat in front of the U.S. Supreme Court Building, March 18, 2008

In December, the ACLU agreed to represent the NRA at the Supreme Court after the gun advocacy nonprofit asked them to.

The case being argued dates back to 2018 when Maria Vullo, the former head of the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS),