The New York State
Constitutional Convention Clearinghouse


Information Related to New York's Nov. 7, 2017 Constitutional Convention Referendum

 

 

News Related To

The Corruption of New York’s Legislature

 

Weiser, Benjamin, Dean Skelos’s 2015 Corruption Conviction Is Overturned, New York Times, September 26, 2017.

McKinley, Jesse, Silver’s Reprieve a Reminder That Albany’s ‘Watergate Moment’ Didn’t Stick, New York Times, July 14, 2017.

Weiser, Benjamin, Sheldon Silver’s 2015 Corruption Conviction Is Overturned, New York Times, July 13, 2017.

Precious, Tom, 516 bills passed in nine days: Why Albany waits for a final flurry, Buffalo News, June 26, 2016.

Hupel, Ashley, CUOMO, LEGISLATIVE LEADERS ANNOUNCE AGREEMENT ON ETHICS REFORMS PACKAGE, City & State New York, June 17, 2016.

King, David, In Extended Session, Lawmakers Vote Through Variety of Bills with Little Public Review, Gotham Gazette, June 18, 2016. “For the public, many legislators and watchdog groups, this year was defined by the corruption convictions of former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, as well as the broad federal investigation into Cuomo’s economic development programs across the state. However, legislators resisted any major reforms that would directly address the issues involved in those cases.”

McKinley, Jesse, Cuomo Seeks Fixes to ‘Rampant’ Problems in New York’s Campaign Contribution System, New York Times, June 8, 2016.

O’Connor, Meg, Everyone Agrees Albany Needs Ethics Reform, Except the People Who Matter Most, Gotham Gazette, April 1, 2016.

McKinley, Jesse, A Leisurely Return for the New York State Legislature, New York Times, February 14, 2016.

Yee, Vivian, In Albany, Those Who Might Address Ethics Meet Rarely and Offer Less, New York Times, January 19, 2016.

Weiser, Benjamin, Craig, Susanne, and William K. Rashbaum, Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney, Sees Lessons in Albany Corruption Trials, New York Times, December 13, 2015.

Norden, Lawrence, A history lesson on fixing Albany: Tweaking the system isn’t enough; we need to mobilize the public around profound democratizing reforms, New York Daily News, December 2, 2015.

Burns, Alexander, and McKinley, Jesse, Guilty Verdict Is a Spur to Would-Be Reformers of Albany’s Political Culture, New York Times, November 30, 2015.

O’Connor, Meg, Good Government Groups Point to New Evidence of Need for Major Ethics, Gotham Gazette, November 12, 2015.

Weiser, Benjamin, Kaplan, Thomas, and Craig, Susanne, Leaders of Anticorruption Panel Felt Cuomo Intervened, Prosecutors Say, New York Times, September 12, 2015.

King, David Howard, Despite Unprecedented Scandal, Calls for Special Ethics Session Fall on Deaf Ears, Gotham Gazette, July 29, 2015.

Bredderman, Will, Schneiderman Calls Absence of Ethics Reform From Albany Deal ‘Incomprehensible’, Observer, June 26, 2015.

King, David Howard, Schneiderman’s Evolution on Ethics, Gotham Gazette, Jun 05, 2015

Seiler, Casey, Frustrated by ‘glaring’ lack of action, Schneiderman will introduce ethics bill, Albany Times Union, May 26, 2015.

Seiler, Casey, Siena poll: Cuomo’s favorability at a new low, Albany Times Union, May 26, 2015.

Smith, Chris, More Corruption Fallout in Albany: Dean Skelos Steps Down As State Senate Majority Leader; John Flanagan to Replace Him, Daily Intelligencer, May 11, 2015.

Vilensky, Mike, N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Job Performance, Approval Ratings Slip: Poll, Wall Street Journal, May 12, 2015.

Burns, Alexander, and Susanne Craiger, Pushing Ethics Reforms, Cuomo Wants Lawmakers to Reveal Income or Lose ItNew York Times, February 2, 2015.

Moreland Commission

Rashbaum, William K., and Craig, Susanne, In Two Corruption Cases, the Culture of Albany Will Go on Trial, New York Times, November 1, 2015.

Weiser, Benjamin, Kaplan, Thomas, and Craig, Susanne, Leaders of Moreland Commission Panel Felt Cuomo Intervened, Prosecutors Say, New York Times, September 12, 2015.

After Ethics Panel’s Shutdown, Loopholes Live On in AlbanyNew York Times, December 8, 2014

Cuomo’s Office Hobbled Ethics Inquiries by Moreland Commission, New York Times, July 23, 2014

U.S. Issues Subpoena in Inquiry on Cuomo’s Closing of Moreland CommissionNew York Times, July 17, 2014

U.S. Said to Seek Records From Anticorruption Panel’s MembersNew York Times, May 6, 2014

Voters Disapprove of Cuomo’s Shutdown of Anticorruption Panel, Poll ShowsNew York Times, April 22, 2014

Cuomo Caught Up in Rare Conflict With ProsecutorNew York Times, April 10, 2014

U.S. Attorney Criticizes Cuomo’s Closing of PanelNew York Times, April 9, 2014

Cuomo’s Push to End Moreland Commission Draws BacklashNew York Times, March 31, 2014

“The corruption in the State Legislature in Albany has not been episodic. It’s been systemic.”

Preet Bharara

United States Attorney, Manhattan District, U.S. Federal Government

“The collusion, the coordination, the subterfuge, the fraud in the current political system is rampant… [T]he states have done a poor job in policing — and I include our state in that as well.”

Andrew Cuomo

Governor, New York State

Op-eds and Editorials on

New York Institutional Corruption

A Corruption Case Worth Repeating, New York Times, September 26, 2017.

Sqadron, Daniel, Why I’m leaving the N.Y. Senate, New York Daily News, August 9, 2017. Covered in the Gotham Gazette.

Editorial: A Twist in the Sheldon Silver Saga, New York Times, July 14, 2017.

Chartock, Alan, We’re not holding our New York state lawmakers accountable, Daily Freeman, February 28, 2016.

Ethics Continues to Dominate Albany, NYPIRG, June 3, 2015.

Albany Has Its Head In The Sand When It Comes To EthicsNYPIRG, May 18, 2015.

Norden, Lawrence, Close New York’s biggest campaign finance loophole: The Board of Elections must make one simple fix, New York Daily News, April 9, 2015.

Schneiderman, Eric T., Op-Ed: The Change Albany Needs, Newsday, March 16, 2015.  See also Schneiderman’s press release.

Editorial, The Schneiderman Remedy for Sleaze, New York Times, March 20, 2015.

Editorial, Sheldon Silver and New York’s ‘Caldron of Corruption’, New York Times, January 30, 2015.

Hoefer, Tim, Corruption cauldron: To fix Albany — term limits, New York Post, January 27, 2015.

When Legislators Ask for a RaiseNew York Times, December 7, 2014

Mr. Cuomo’s Gift to the CynicsNew York Times, April 10, 2014

New York’s ‘Legalized Bribery’New York Times, December 4, 2013

Climbing Out of Albany’s SwampNew York Times, November 22, 2013

New York Legislators’ Secret IncomeNew York Times, September 23, 2013

Reports Related To

The Corruption of New York’s Legislature

 

Dincer, Oguzhan and Michael Johnston, Measuring Illegal and Legal Corruption in American States: Some Results from 2016 Corruption in America Survey, Institute for Corruption Studies, Department of Economics, Illinois State University.  Accessed June 6, 2017.  Reports that Legal Corruption in the New York Legislature is “extremely common.”

Lerner, Susan, et al., Election Administration: How Does New York State Compare?, New York Common Cause, January 2017.

Harmon, Lauren, Posner, Charles, Jawando, Michele, and Dhaiti, Matt, The Health of State Democracies, American Progress Action Fund, July 2015.  New York gets an “F” for representation in state government.  See the section on New York.

2014 Election Outcomes Are In: Rigged Redistricting System Will Re-elect Dozens of Legislators Before a Single Vote is Cast, Citizens Unions, October 28, 2014.  See also Autz, Lisa, and Samar Khurshid, Uncontested Democracy: New York ballots offer voters startlingly little choice, Gotham Gazette, October 30, 2014.

Horner, Blair, Mahoney, Bill, Robbie Sheikh, Lerner, Susan, and Paul, Brian,  How the  2012 Redistricting Deal Denies New Yorkers Fair Representation and the Fundamentally Flawed Redistricting “Reform”, Common Cause/NY, Effective NY, and NYPIRG, June 2014.

FAIR ELECTIONS FOR NEW YORK STATE: How Public Matching Creates Greater Voter Choice and Competition, Citizens Union, November 28, 2012.

Kolb, Brian M., New York’s Last, Best Hope For Real Reform: The Case for Convening a State Constitutional ConventionAlbany Government Law Review, Vol. 4, pp. 601-624 (2011).  A shorter version of Kolb’s argument can be found here.

Norden, Lawrence, Stengel, Andrew, and Seago, Laura, Still Broken: New York State Legislative Reform 2008 Update, Brennan Center for Justice, January 2, 2009.

Foster, Bethan, Norden, Lawrence, Stengel, Andrew, and Pozen, David E., Unfinished Business: New York State Legislative Reform 2006 Update, Brennan Center for Justice, October 11, 2006.

Ward, Richard B., Reform: Is This The Time?, in New York State Government, 2nd Edition, Rockefeller Institute Press, December 2006.

Creelan, Jeremy M., and Moulton, Laura M., The New York State Legislative Process: An Evaluation and Blueprint for Reform, Brennan Center for Justice, July 21, 2004.

Horner, Blair, Reform New York: 10 Steps on the Path to Change Albany, New York Public Interest Group, October 2004.

 

 

 Events Related To

The Corruption of New York’s Legislature

 

Can New Yorkers Fix Albany’s Corruption Problem?Citizens Union, April 6, 2015.

 

 

News Related To

The Corruption of New York Advocacy Groups

 

Bragg, Chris, Deadline approaching, good-government groups urge ‘ethics reform’ veto, Albany Times Union, August 24, 2016.

Reisman, Nick, Cuomo Approves New Disclosure Measures, State of Politics, August 24, 2016.

Lovett, Kenneth, Gov. Cuomo signs ethics bill requiring Super PACs to disclose more donors, despite reform groups’ objections, Daily News, August 24, 2016.