Judge to New York AG: Sorry, You Can't Dissolve the NRA

Matt Vespa / Townhall Tipsheet

 

The Left’s war on the National Rifle Association has been ongoing for months. New York Attorney General Letitia James has vowed to dissolve the organization through a series of legal actions aimed at exposing the allegations of fraud and corruption among the upper crust of the group. The NRA is one of the nation’s oldest civil rights organizations, though how they’ve spent their donors’ money, among other things, has drawn immense scrutiny. Some items purchased with these funds were not earmarked properly. A wedding does not enhance or promote Second Amendment rights. This has been a months-long saga, but a judge on the New York State Supreme Court has ruled the AG cannot nuke the organization (via The Reload):

New York Attorney Letitia James (D.) has been dealt a major setback in her corruption case against the National Rifle Association (NRA).

Justice Joel Cohen of the Supreme Court of the State of New York dismissed James’ attempt to dissolve the country’s largest gun rights group on Wednesday. He said James’ accusations of corruption primarily involved private harm to NRA members and donors, and thus did not warrant such a sweeping penalty if proven.

“In short, the Complaint does not allege the type of public harm that is the legal linchpin for imposing the ‘corporate death penalty,’” Justice Cohen wrote in his opinion. “Moreover, dissolving the NRA could impinge, at least indirectly, on the free speech and assembly rights of its millions of members.”

The decision comes after the NRA filed several motions to dismiss Attorney General James’ corruption claims against the organization and various individual members of its executive leadership. While the judge allowed several of the claims to proceed, dismissal of the threat to dissolve the organization removes James’ most potent weapon against the group.

Attorney General James launched her lawsuit against the NRA in August of 2020 after alleging that the organization, Executive Vice-President Wayne LaPierre, former Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Wilson “Woody” Phillips, former Chief of Staff and the Executive Director of General Operations Joshua Powell, and Corporate Secretary and General Counsel John Frazer all engaged in illicit conduct with NRA funds.

Dissolving the NRA was James’ main aim. She noted how she was disappointed that the judge took away the basis of her legal action, though a host of lawsuits still can be litigated. We’ll see what happens.