The U.S. Supreme Court will hear the National Rifle Association's argument that the then-head of New York's Department of Financial Services embarked on an unconstitutional campaign of intimidation to get banks and insurance companies to cut ties with the gun rights group.

The NRA is asking the justices to revive its First Amendment lawsuit against Maria T. Vullo, the department's former superintendent, and reverse the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit's dismissal of the case on qualified-immunity grounds. Vullo, an attorney, joined the agency after a long career at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.