Former New York Superintendent of Insurance files amicus curiae brief in First Amendment case

Client(s) Corcoran, James P.

Jones Day filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of James P. Corcoran, the former New York State Superintendent of Insurance, in a First Amendment challenge to alleged conduct by the former Superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services. The case turns on whether the National Rifle Association plausibly alleged that the Superintendent's nominally non-binding guidance and pressure tactics coerced financial institutions into blacklisting the organization. To that end, the brief explains that certain structural features of their regulatory regimes cause insurance and financial services firms to heed regulators' perceived wishes, even if not legally compelled to do so. In particular, the brief explains why the Superintendent's alleged conduct plausibly would be viewed as coercive by the entities she regulated. It also calls attention to the danger of regulators using their vast power and discretion to cut off politically disfavored groups from essential financial services.

National Rifle Association of America v. Vullo, No. 22-842 (U.S.)