9 May 2024: NY Appellate Court Says State Ethics Commission Is Unconstitutional

Appellate court agrees that state ethics commission is unconstitutional

The replacement ethics commission New York state lawmakers set up to address the shady dealings of Andrew M. Cuomo's multi-million COVID book deal has been declared to be unconstitutional by a state appellate court. Because it has, Cuomo now stands to keep the $5 million he gained for the he produced with the assistance of state government officials.

Here's an excerpt from City & State New York's article:

The future of state ethics is in jeopardy after a state appellate court upheld a lower court decision finding that New York’s current ethics watchdog commission is unconstitutional. The ruling marks another victory for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who brought the lawsuit after the commission started to investigate his $5 million book COVID book deal.

In a 5-0 ruling, a mid-level appellate panel of judges ruled that the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government, the oversight board that administers the state’s ethics laws, violated the state constitution. The state Legislature originally created the commission in 2022 to replace the previous one – the Joint Commission on Public Ethics – that Cuomo himself had created in 2011. “We find that by enacting the foregoing scheme for the enforcement of the applicable ethics laws, the Legislature, though well intentioned in its actions, violated the bedrock principles of separation of powers,” reads the decision.

Although the court's decision favors Cuomo, it is not an endorsement of his ethics as the court did not address them. It is perhaps best understood as an indictment of sloppy lawmaking on the part of state legislators.

This entry was added to the timeline on 26 May 2024.