In a recent decision that has garnered much legal interest, New York Supreme Court Justice Thomas Marcelle ruled the New York State Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government (NYSCOELIG) as unconstitutional. Marcelle’s decision was in response to the case, Cuomo v. NYSCOELIG, and centered around the grounds that the commission’s statutorily mandated independence breached the New York State Constitution.
The NYSCOELIG, created under the New York Executive Law §94, was designed as an independent ethics watchdog. However, Marcelle specified that the New York state constitution requires all executive power to lie with the governor. Thus, any commission with executive power must function under the governor’s control.
“The commission violates this core constitutional tenant by operating beyond the Governor’s reach. The Governor has no capacity to control the commission by populating it with her appointees. She may not call commissioners to have them explain their actions, nor may she remove commissioners who misuse their office or fail in their duties. Indeed, the whole reason for the commission’s existence is to be independent from any government control—an objective which Executive Law § 94 surely accomplishes.”
Marcelle continued to argue that it’s the citizens’ prerogative to decide who governs them, and that requires any such decision to be done through constitutional amendment, not merely by statute.
“If the people should choose to be governed by those who are not politically accountable to them or their Governor, who swear no oath of allegiance to them, and who come as a class composed of urban academics and who are not reflective of the cross-section of the people whom they govern, the people may do so. But it is for the people to decide and only the people. Here, the Legislature has done by statute what was required to be done by constitutional amendment.”
The case was initiated in 2021 after former Governor Andrew Cuomo filed a lawsuit that contented NYSCOELIG’s constitutionality following his resignation from office. NYSCOELIG had charged Cuomo with ethics violations related to a memoir he wrote about the New York government response to COVID-19.
New York is no stranger to such legal controversies, with ethics scandals involving political leaders becoming almost a regular feature. From former Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin’s resignation amid scandal in 2022 to former governors like Andrew Cuomo, David Paterson, and Eliot Spitzer, the state has seen multiple ethical and legal breaches at high political levels.
Post the ruling, a spokesperson for Andrew Cuomo hailed the decision, stating, “Truth and reason won, mob rule lost today.” In contrast, NYSCOELIG Chair Frederick A. Davie and Executive Director Sandford N. Berland expressed their disappointment, asserting, “We respectfully disagree with the court’s result and are reviewing all options, including, if appropriate, interim legislation.”
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