by Judge Joel Cohen has scheduled the oral arguments on the final judgment proposals for tomorrow at 11am. Unfortunately, New York being New York, we cannot watch or listen to the oral arguments live as that is prevented by New York law. You can thank the media who covered the Lindbergh kidnapping trial back in 1935 for that.
Since the oral arguments are scheduled for Halloween, the question is whether the final decision will be a trick or treat for the NRA.
Having read both sets of proposals – and I’m not counting the one from disgraced former EVP Wayne LaPierre – my expectation is that Judge Cohen’s final decision will tend to be closer to the proposal offered by the New York Attorney General’s Office than that of the NRA. My reasoning is that their proposal more closely follows his dicta in his interim decision. For example, the NYAG’s proposal more fully opens up the nomination process while the NRA’s speaks of seeking out certain attributes for directors. The latter could be used to eliminate candidates who might not buy into the party line.
While not having a crystal ball, I also would not be surprised if Judge Cohen orders that Paul Babaz and Charlie Brown be added to the ballot. Both were late in delivering petitions due to storm-related issues.
As I wrote earlier, neither proposal addresses information sharing with the members. I would hope that Judge Cohen realizes this is not addressed and adds that as a requirement. NRA members should be able to view up-to-date bylaws online, see the financial filings for a period of at least five years, and be able to read the minutes and agendas for Board meetings. This is the minimum that should be available online for members to access. If anyone is worried about the opponents of gun rights having access to it, make it available to members only just as they do with the ratings from the NRA-PVF.
I don’t think we will have to wait long to receive Judge Cohen’s final judgment. I would not be surprised if he doesn’t have a draft in place that only needing some tweaking following the oral arguments.
Fingers crossed that the final judgment will be a treat for the members and a trick for the cabal whose acquiescence to the whims of Wayne LaPierre put us in this position to begin with.
