Justice Jackson Protects Government Right to Coercion

This morning, I finally got around to reading the Supreme Court's unanimous opinion in NRA v. Vullo issued May 30. Justice Sotomayor's opinion unsurprisingly says that the State of New York may not directly or indirectly wield its power to suppress free speech. The New York superintendent of the Department of Financial Services threatened enforcement action against insurers for the NRA and its members if the insurers did not cease doing business with the NRA. New York was quite successful in this endeavor as alleged in the case.

Justice Jackson, however, wrote a concurring opinion stating: "I write separately to stress the important distinction between government coercion, on the one hand, and a violation of the First Amendment, on the other." These are her words, not mine. So be mindful that the government can still lawfully coerce you.