New York's top court on Tuesday affirmed the constitutionality of an ethics watchdog created three years ago to stem public corruption, rejecting arguments from former Gov. Andrew Cuomo related to a $5 million book deal.
The Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government had been fighting for its survival after Cuomo’s lawyers persuaded lower courts that the panel was given unconstitutional enforcement powers. Cuomo contended that the law creating the agency violated the separation of powers mandated under the state constitution, since enforcing ethics laws is a power that belongs to the executive branch.
