The governor’s meddling
Our opinion: The supposed independence of a new enforcement counsel at the state Board of Elections is compromised by her communications with the Cuomo administration. Gov. Andrew Cuomo may think he...
View ArticleDefending the indefensible
Our opinion: New York should settle a lawsuit over its system of providing lawyers for the poor. Constitutional rights shouldn’t depend on the ability to pay for them. Next Monday, lawyers for the...
View ArticleA missing justice priority
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has a lot of things he wants to do to improve criminal justice in New York. It’s the one thing he must do that’s conspicuously missing from his list. Mr. Cuomo’s proposals focus...
View ArticleIndigent defendants also deserve right to counsel
The Times Union is absolutely right that Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s criminal justice reform plans need to address issues of right to counsel (“A missing justice priority,” Jan. 12). The Sixth Amendment gives...
View ArticleEnact legislation, prove black lives do matter
Bernie Sanders speaks for many when he says, “we are all sick and tired of seeing unarmed people shot by police officers.” Far more to be sick and tired of is 52 years of failure by the state...
View ArticleLong story short
Help physicians to best manage painkiller meds Lawmakers need to address the opioid abuse crisis, but limiting doctors’ ability to prescribe narcotics for people in pain is the wrong approach. A bill...
View ArticleLet unit be independent
When Gov. Andrew Cuomo named one of his top aides to the new position of enforcement counsel for the state Board of Elections, we questioned if the arrangement would provide the independence a watchdog...
View ArticleNo shield for politicians
The state Board of Elections may get a lot of things wrong, but for once, commissioners have it right: When politicians appear to have broken the law, the public should know about it. Whatever the...
View ArticleBond and counsel are not exclusive
Anyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent and has a right to prepare and present a defense. It’s hard to do that from the county jail; common sense and studies both say that pretrial release...
View ArticleDon’t delay, Mr. Cuomo
It shouldn’t be necessary to quote one of the most important U.S. Supreme Court decisions in recent decades to a lawyer, but for Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s benefit, we offer this line from the syllabus of...
View ArticleAn unjust stroke of a pen
The contrast could not have been more glaring: On the day that governors normally grant pardons, Gov. Andrew Cuomo vetoed a bill that would have kept untold numbers of people from needing his mercy....
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