Media Center

Today, civil rights, civil liberties and good government groups sent a letter to Governor Cuomo and legislative leaders in Albany calling for open public hearings and a transparent and participatory legislative process following the failure of a Staten Island grand jury to indict the police officer whose chokehold resulted in the death of Eric Garner

Responding to a suit brought by a good-government group, a trial judge has ruled the State Board of Elections cannot use the word “independent” in describing a new redistricting commission on the November ballot.

In a victory for the segment of good-government groups opposed to the compromise constitutional amendment on redistricting, state Supreme Court Judge Patrick McGrath has ruled that the redistricting commission that would be created by the proposed change “cannot be described as ‘independent’ when eight out of the ten members are the handpicked appointees of the legislative leaders and the two additional members are essentially political appointees by proxy.”

New York election officials must reword a November ballot question on the creation of a redistricting commission to avoid misleading voters into thinking it would be independent, a state judge ruled Wednesday.

In a strongly worded decision (attached), Albany Supreme Court Judge Patrick McGrath ruled unequivocally that the proposed redistricting commission: "cannot be described as 'independent' when eight out of the ten members are the handpicked appointees of the legislative leaders and the two additional members are essentially political appointees by proxy".

Could members of the Cuomo administration be up to the same mischief they engaged in last year when seeking permission to expand legalized gambling? A government watchdog group suspects so.