Florida – May 26, 2023 – America’s Future, Inc., a national leader in the fight to preserve individual rights, promote American values and traditions, and protect the nation’s Constitutional Republic, announced that it submitted two Amicus briefs defending citizens’ constitutional rights in the last two weeks. 

On Friday, May 19, 2023, a brief was filed with the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in U.S. v Missouri, Dkt. No. 23-1457 concerning state sovereignty under the constitutional principle of dual sovereignty, a notion that provides for the vast scope of states’ powers to ensure we live with a sense of ordered liberty. The brief was filed with seven other nonprofits and Virginia Delegate David LaRock.

On Wednesday, May 24, 2023, a brief was submitted to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) in National Rifle Association of America (NRA) v Maria T. Vullo, SCOTUS Dkt. 22-842 in defense of the First Amendment rights of speech and association and to defend the rights of all citizens and organizations to be treated fairly and even-handedly by government officials, no matter the political preference. 

“The Constitution is the law of the land in America,” said Mary O’Neill, Executive Director of America’s Future. “Our organization will defend the rights of all citizens in cases where the government infringes on those rights. In our filings on both cases, we lay out clear defenses and hope that both courts make the right and proper decisions for the people of this country.”   

In the U.S. v Missouri case, America’s Future argues that Missouri’s state law, the “Second Amendment Preservation Act (SAPA),” responds to certain federal restrictions on firearms believed to be unconstitutional infringements on the Second Amendment rights of its citizens.  SAPA, therefore, instructs state government officials to refuse enforcement of federal gun restrictions against its own citizens.  This state nonenforcement instruction is a constitutionally permissive exercise of the state’s plenary powers and does not violate the Supremacy Clause. 

The brief filed with SCOTUS supporting the NRA’s position that certain New York government officials misused their powers to punish political opponents, provides the court with ample insight and information revealing the pretext used by former governor Andrew Cuomo and a New York state administrative agency with enforcement powers, i.e., the NY Department of Financial Services (DFS), tasked with overseeing NY banks and NY insurance companies, to open an investigation into the NRA and then, in a somewhat roundabout manner, DFS threatened banks not to do business with the NRA because associating with the NRA may cause reputational harm to the banks.  

New York argues that it is entitled to warn banks of its belief that the bank would suffer “reputational risk” depending on what people and groups with which it associates.  In its support of NRA’s position in this case, America’s Future implores the SCOTUS to intervene, arguing that government officials who intentionally treat (or mistreat) others based on political party affiliation should be held to account for abuse of power and subject to swift and harsh penalties.  

To read more details about these filings, along with several other briefs filed by America’s Future, please visit our Law & Policy Page.