Judge's 'Bad Actor' Comments in NY v. NRA Case May Offer Members Hope :: 12/21/2021

U.S.A. – -(Ammoland.com)- Questions asked by the judge during oral arguments on Dec. 10 over a motion to dismiss charges by New York Attorney General Letitia James in her attempt to dissolve the National Rifle Association could indicate that pleas by members not to punish them for leadership failures have not gone unnoticed.

“So should that not matter at all that there are five million members, a number of whom had tried to appear here and have taken the position, well, look, don’t throw out everything just because of some bad actors?” Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York Judge Joel M. Cohen asked the attorneys.

“It’s possible that the motions to intervene by Frank Tait and Rocky Marshall had influence here,” the NRA in Danger blog, an authoritative chronicler of the case speculates.

Such supposition is not without foundation.

In a series of exclusive reports beginning in August 2020, this column detailed an NRA member and attorney’s idea of an intervenor lawsuit on behalf of the members. In June of this year, we reported an intervenor motion was filed by members Frank Tate and Mario Aguirre on behalf of the membership, which the judge subsequently denied.

“But he said the members’ cause needed to be heard, and he would consider other ways of letting them participate,” the NRA In Danger blog reported at the time. “There was a report of a director going to join in [again, from AmmoLand], which would have helped their motion a lot…”

As if in answer, National Rifle Association Director Roscoe B. Marshall, Jr. filed his Notice of Motion to Intervene in September. In a not-unexpected development, opposing sides showed a rare moment of “unity”:

“NRA’s attorneys of course oppose it. Better to have the organization terminate than be reformed! … The Attorney General likewise opposes Marshall’s motion … She knows where Marshall poses a danger to her plans.”

At this writing, no ruling on the Marshall motion to intervene appears on the court’s case document list.

“It may be the biggest of ironies if the NRA were saved by a smart and fair NY judge, after spending probably millions to ‘dump New York,’ and telling the bankruptcy judge that there was no way it could get fair treatment in NY,” NRA in Danger notes.

A transcript of the motion under discussion is embedded below.

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About David Codrea:

David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.

https://www.ammoland.com/2021/12/judges-bad-actor-comments-in-ny-v-nra-case-may-offer-members-hope/