Politics on the Hudson

A few notable cases out of today’s decisions handed down by N.Y.’s higest court, the Court of Appeals:

1. It upheld a decision by former state Comptroller Alan Hevesi to nullify a $46 million Thruway contract with Worth Construction, Connecticut-based firm, because of its alleged ties with organized crime. The contract was for building an interchange between Interstates 84 and 87 in Newburgh.

2. For the second time in 8 months, it ruled that former Gov. George Pataki erred when he invoked a provision in the state’s mental hygiene law to keep sex offenders locked up even after they’ve completed their criminal sentences. However, in the interim, Gov. Spitzer and lawmakers have enacted a law that provides for so-called “civil confinement.’’

3. It threw out the conviction of a Binghamton-area Boy Scout leader accused of “forcibly touching’’ a teenage boy he had taken into his home. Essentially, the court said the local DA had used such a broad, vague time range to describe the alleged acts that it undermined Stephen Sedlock’s ability to present a defense.

The state Senate will take up a vote on bills to limit statewide officeholders (gov, lt. gov, AG, comptroller) to 8 years in office and to restrict legislators to 8 years as Senate or Assembly leader and 6 as a committee chairman.

The prime sponsor is a freshman, Sen. Joe Griffo, R-Rome, but the measures have the blessing of Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno, who has served in his post for 13 years.

When the bills were introduced in April, the 78-year-old Bruno acknowledged such a change wouldn’t impact him: “Term limits doesn’t mean much to me at this stage of my life. So it’s not hard to say `sure.’‘’

Bruno’s counterpart, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, has expressed no interest in either bill.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer came to Albany Tuesday night as part of the state Court of Appeals’ lecture series. His topic: the U.S. Constitution.

In a roughly 45-minute address and a follow up Q-and-A period, the judge did not make news. But he kept the crowd of about 100 entertained with his explanation of why the Constitution revolves around one word: democracy. He used two case examples—his vote to say government can regulate campaign contributions and his vote to protect affirmative action programs.

Some excerpts: 1. “Campaign finance. My goodness, that’s a nightmare. … It’s a nightmare because (more…)

It’s not clear yet whether Gov. Spitzer and legislative leaders will be able to announce any agreements later today when they hold another public bargaining session. Neither the governor nor Joe Bruno nor Sheldon Silver indicated such in brief speaking appearances this morning on other topics.

In fact, Senate Majority Leader Bruno, R-Rensselaer County, again was critical of the governor when asked how things were going. Asked if the governor has, in Bruno’s view, sufficiently pushed the Democrat-led Assembly on key issues, the senator said: “No. I haven’t seen it.’’

Assembly Speaker Silver, D-Manhattan, said the two houses will probably have to go to conference committees (a bipartisan panel of Senate and Assembly members) if they are to resolve their differences on a DNA crime database bill. The Assembly wants to allow criminal defendants more access to DNA evidence than Bruno or Spitzer.

The Cayuga Indian Nation would end its land-claim lawsuit and accept a much small tract of land in the Finger Lakes in exchange for rights to build a casino—probably in the Catskill Mountain region—under a tentative deal announced Wednesday.

The tribe would give up its claim to 64,000 acres in Seneca and Cayuga counties and instead take just 10,000 acres. The two counties would get up to $15.3 million annually as a share of revenue from the casino.

The proposal must obtain approvals from both counties, the federal government and Gov. Eliot Spitzer and the state Legislature. If all that goes smoothly and quickly, a lawyer for the Cayugas said the casino could be up and running in two years.

Quinnipiac University is out with a new poll this morning on NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Take your pick of what’s the most intriguing finding:

a) at 74 percent approval, the mayor is near an all-time high popularity in the minds of city residents. b) if he were to run for governor, 60 percent say they’d probably vote for him, 33 percent probably not. c) if he were to run for president, 37 percent would probably vote for him, 54 percent probably not.

Motorcyclists from around the state converge at the Capitol today for their annual protest of the mandatory helmet law. Despite the annual event, the bikers’ cause has never gained much traction in the state Legislature.

In an unrelated note, two weeks ago hundreds of bikers jammed downtown Rochester to protest the acquittal of a former Monroe County sheriff’s deputy on manslaughter charges in the death of a local biker. The deputy was convicted of two DWI-related misdemeanors.

A downstate federal judge has denied a request by war protesters to be allowed to enter West Point next Saturday when Vice President Dick Cheney gives a graduation address. Accounts here and here.

A former court clerk in Syracuse alleged she was ousted because she refused to participate in a conspiracy to discredit a judicial candidate.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will deliver a lecture at the Court of Appeals in Albany.

Out in Western N.Y., the Seneca Nation announced it has voted to charge New York state $1 per vehicle for each one that passes through its Cattaraugus territory on the state thruway.

The tribe said it won’t harass motorists but will bill the state beginning Friday. It said it would erect signs notifying drivers they are entering Indian territory and alerting them to the fee.

The action comes in the wake of Gov. Eliot Spitzer saying he wants to enforce a law that says tribes must collect sales taxes on gasoline, cigarettes and other goods sold on reservations to non-Indians.

One more time, he’s not running. For president. For governor. For anything.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg didn’t wait for the question to be asked at a news conference this afternoon. He jumped right in, cutting off the political speculation, while answering a question about his plan for congestion pricing cars entering NYC.

Bloomberg was giving his assessment of his meetings today with legislators and whether Albany sounded amenable to the plan.

“Given that I have 965 days left on the job (pause) … and I am not running for governor and I am not running for president,’’ Bloomberg began. Later when pressed about Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno touting Bloomberg as gubernatorial material, the mayor said: “I think Senator Bruno was joking about it. I am not running for governor. Never—I have the greatest job in the world …’’

Similarly, Bloomberg said U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., “was probably joking’’ when he suggested the mayor run for commander in chief.