Ed wrote about this Supreme Court decision yesterday, but I want to take a moment or three to discuss what exactly it tells us about how far New York has traveled into banana republic testimony.
The decision was overshadowed by the Trump conviction farce, but in many ways NRA v Vullo is as good an example as the Trump trial of the weaponization of government.
Sonia Sotomayor–yes, THAT Sonia Sotomayor–wrote in the unanimous decision that New York Department of Financial Services Superintendant likely (the lawsuit has yet to be tried) violated the First Amendment rights of the National Rifle Association.
She did so by threatening insurers with enhanced regulatory reviews if they did business with the NRA. In no uncertain terms she made clear that her department would treat them kindly if they dropped the NRA as a business partner, and would use her power as a regulator to…
