USA > New York > Courts and lawyers of New York; a history, 1609-1925, Volume II > Part 27
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ARTICLE V.
Article V, dealing with State Officers, provides, in Section I, for the filling of the offices of Secretary of State, Comptroller, Treasurer, Attorney- General3 and State Engineer and Surveyor by choice of the people at general election, for terms of two years. Section 2 is on the same subject. Section 3 authorizes the Governor, with the consent of the Senate, to appoint a Superintendent of Public Works, who shall hold office during the term of the Governor by whom he was nominated. The Superintendent of Public Works shall be charged with the execution of all laws relating to the repair and navigation of the canals, and also those relating to construction, except
D. Morgan, November 2, 1858; Horatio Seymour, November 4, 1862; Reu- ben E. Fenton, November 8, 1864; John T. Hoffman, November 3, 1868; John A. Dix, November 5, 1872; Samuel J. Tilden, November 3, 1874; Lucius Robinson, November 7, 1876; Alonzo B. Cornell, November 4, 1879; Gro- ver Cleveland, November 7, 1882; David B. Hill (Lieutenant-Governor) became Governor upon resignation of Grover Cleveland, January 6, 1885, and was elected for full term on November 6, 1885; Roswell P. Flower, November 3, 1891; Levi P. Morton, November 6, 1894; Frank S. Black, November 3, 1896; Theodore Roosevelt, November 8, 1898; Benjamin B. Odell, Jr., November 6, 1900; Frank W. Higgins, November 8, 1904; Charles E. Hughes, November 6, 1906; Horace White (Lieutenant- Governor), became Governor October 6, 1910, upon resignation of Charles E. Hughes, who resigned to accept office of Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States ; John A. Dix, elected November 8, 1910; William Sulzer, November 5, 1912; Martin H. Glynn (Lieutenant-Governor), became Gov- ernor October 17, 1913, vice Sulzer, removed; Charles S. Whitman, elected November 3, 1914; Alfred E. Smith, November 5, 1918; Nathan L. Miller, November 2, 1920; Alfred E. Smith, November 7, 1922, and reëlected in 1924, thus being the only thrice-elected Governor of the State of New York.
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such construction and improvements as shall be confided to the State Engi- neer and Surveyor, who must be "a practical civil engineer." The Superin- tendent of Public Works shall perform all the duties of the former Canal Commissioners, and Board of Canal Commissioners. Section 4 provides for the appointment, by Governor and Senate, of a Superintendent of State Prisons, who shall have the powers and duties formerly had and performed by the Inspectors of State Prisons. Section 5 makes the Lieutenant- Governor, Speaker of the Assembly, Secretary of State, Comptroller, Treas- urer, Attorney-General and State Engineer and Surveyor commissioners of the Land Office. The Lieutenant-Governor, Secretary of State, Comptroller, Treasurer and Attorney-General are made commissioners of the Canal Fund, and with the State Engineer and Surveyor and Superintendent of Public Works shall constitute a Canal Board. Section 6 relates to the powers and duties of these boards. Section 7 gives the Governor power to suspend the State Treasurer, in case it should appear to him that the latter has violated his duty. Section 8 abolishes certain offices for inspection of merchandise or manufacture. Section 9 provides that appointments and promotions in the civil service of the State shall be according to merit, ascertained, "so far as practicable," by examinations, and be competitive, ex-service men in the Civil War, however, being "entitled to preference in appointments and promotion, without regard to their standing on any list from which such appointment or promotion may be made."
2. Lieutenant-Governors-Pierre van Cortlandt, elected 1777; Stephen van Rensselaer, 1795; Jeremiah van Rensselaer, 1801; John Broome, 1804; John Tayler, elected January 29, 1811, as President of the Senate, vice Broome, deceased; DeWitt Clinton, elected Lieutenant-Governor under special Act in April, 1811; John Tayler, elected in 1813; Erastus Root, 1822; James Tallmadge, 1824; Nathaniel Pitcher, in 1826; Peter R. Liv- ingston, February 16, 1828; Charles Dayan, October 7, 1828 (Clinton having died February II, 1828, Pitcher was elected Governor, and Livingston and Dayan were successively elected Presidents of the Senate); Enos T. Throop, elected November, 1828; Charles Stebbins, March 12, 1829; Wil- liam M. Oliver, January 3, 1830 (Van Buren having resigned the Governor- ship, Throop became Governor, and Stebbins and Oliver were successively elected Presidents of the Senate) ; John Tracy, 1832; Luther Bradish, 1838; Daniel S. Dickinson, 1842; Addison Gardiner, 1844; Hamilton Fish, November, 1847 (Gardiner having been elected Judge of the Court of Appeals, Fish was elected to fill the vacancy under an act passed in Sep- tember of that year) ; George W. Patterson, 1848; Sanford E. Church, 1850; Henry J. Raymond, 1854; Henry R. Selden, 1856; Robert Campbell, 1858; David R. Floyd Jones, 1862; Thomas G. Alvord, 1864; Stewart L. Woodford, 1866; Allen C. Beach, 1868; John C. Robinson, 1872; William Dorsheimer, 1874; George G. Hoskins, 1879; David B. Hill, 1882; Dennis McCarthy, 1885 (Hill having succeeded Cleveland as Governor, McCarthy was elected President of the Senate on January 6, 1885) ; Edward F. Jones, elected November 3, 1885; William F. Sheehan, 1891 ; Charles T. Saxton, 1894; Timothy L. Woodruff, 1896; Frank W. Higgins, 1902; Matthew
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The Judiciary Article is No. VI. And in view of the par- ticular purpose of this compilation, it might be better to give this article in full. It is as follows :
ARTICLE VI.
Supreme Court; How Constituted; Judicial Districts-§I (as amended November 7, 1905). The Supreme Court is continued with general jurisdic- tion in law and equity subject to such appellate jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals as now is or may be prescribed by law not inconsistent with this article. The existing judicial districts of the State are continued until changed as hereinafter provided. The Supreme Court shall consist of the justices now in office, and of the Judges transferred thereto by the fifth section of this article, all of whom shall continue to be Justices of the Supreme Court during their respective terms, and of twelve additional Justices who shall reside in and be chosen by the electors of the several existing judicial districts, three in the first district, three in the second, and one in each of the other districts; and of their successors. The successors of said justices shall be chosen by the electors of their respective judicial districts. The Legislature may alter the judicial districts once after every enumeration under the Constitution, of the inhabitants of the State, and thereupon reapportion the Justices to be thereafter elected in the districts so altered.
The Legislature may from time to time increase the number of justices in any judicial district except that the number of justices in the first and second district, or in any of the districts into which the second district may be divided, shall not be increased to exceed one justice for each eighty thou- sand, or fraction over forty thousand of the population thereof, as shown by the last State or Federal census or enumeration, and except that the number of justices in any other district shall not be increased to exceed one
Linn Bruce, 1904; Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler, 1906; Horace White, elected Lieutenant-Governor in November, 1908, and succeeded Hughes as Governor on October 6, 1910; George H. Cobb, elected President of Senate, succeed- ing White, October 21, 1910; Thomas F. Conway, elected Lieutenant- Governor, November 8, 1910; Martin H. Glynn, 1912, and became Governor on October 17, 1913, upon removal of Sulzer, Martin F. Wagner succeeding Glynn on same date as President of the Senate; Edward Schoeneck, 1914; Harry C. Walker, 1918; Jeremiah Wood, 1920; George R. Lunn, 1922; Seymour Lowman, 1924.
3. Attorneys-General-Egbert Benson, 1777; Richard Varick, 1788; Aaron Burr, 1789; Morgan Lewis, 1791; Nathaniel Lawrence, 1792; Josiah Ogden Hoffman, 1795; Ambrose Spencer, 1802; John Woodworth, 1804; Matthias B. Hildreth, 1808; Abraham van Vechten, 1810; Matthias B. Hildreth, ISII; Thomas Addis Emmett, 1812; Abraham van Vechten, 1813; Martin van Buren, 1815; Thomas J. Oakley, 1819; Samuel A. Talcott, 1821; Greene C. Bronson, 1829; Samuel Beardsley, 1836; Willis Hall, 1839;
THOMAS ADDIS EMMETT
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CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY
justice for each sixty thousand, or fraction over thirty-five thousand of the population thereof, as shown by the last State or Federal census or enumeration. The Legislature may erect out of the Second Judicial District as now constituted, another judicial district, and apportion the justices in office between the districts, and provide for the election of additional justices in the new district not exceeding the limit herein provided.
Judicial Departments; Appellate Division; How Constituted; Gov- ernor to Designate Justices; Reporter; Time and Place of Holding Courts. §2 (as amended November 7, 1905). The Legislature shall divide the State into four judicial departments. The first department shall consist of the county of New York; the others shall be bounded by county lines and be compact and equal in population as nearly as may be. Once every ten years the Legislature may alter the judicial departments, but without increasing the number thereof. There shall be an Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, consisting of seven justices in the first department, and of five jus- tices in each of the other departments. In each department four shall constitute a quorum, and the concurrence of three shall be necessary to a decision. No more than five justices shall sit in any case. From all the justices elected to the Supreme Court the Governor shall designate those who shall constitute the Appellate Division, and he shall designate the pre- siding justice thereof, who shall act as such during his term of office, and shall be a resident of the department. The other justices shall be designated for terms of five years or the unexpired portions of their respective terms of office, if less than five years. From time to time as the terms of such designations expire, or vacancies occur, he shall make new designations. A majority of the justices so designated to sit in the Applellate Division, in each department shall be residents of the department. He may also make temporary designations in case of the absence or inability to act of any justice in the Appellate Division, or in case the presiding justice of any
George P. Barker, 1842; John van Buren, 1845. The foregoing were all appointed. The first to be elected was: Ambrose L. Jordan, 1847; Levi S. Chatfield, 1849; Gardner Stow, appointed vice Chatfield, resigned, December 8, 1853; Ogden Hoffman, elected November 8, 1853, and took office January 1, 1854; Stephen B. Cushing, 1855; Lyman Tremain, 1857; Charles G. Myers, 1859; Daniel S. Dickinson, 1861; John Cochrane, 1863; John H. Martindale, 1865; Marshall B. Champlain, 1867; Francis C. Bar- low, 1871; Daniel Pratt, 1873; Charles S. Fairfield, 1875; Augustus Schoon- maker, Jr., 1877; Hamilton Ward, 1879; Leslie W. Russell, 1881; Denis O'Brien, 1883; Charles F. Tabor, 1887; Simon W. Rosendale, 1891; Theo- dore W. Hancock, 1893; John C. Davies, 1898; John Cunneen, 1902; Julius M. Mayer, 1904; William S. Jackson, 1906; Edward Richard O'Malley, 1908; Thomas Carmody, 1910; James A. Parsons, appointed vice Carmody, resigned, September 2, 1914; Egbert E. Woodbury, elected November, 1914; Merton E. Lewis, elected by Legislature, vice Woodbury, resigned, April 25, 1917; Charles D. Newton, November, 1918; Carl Sherman, 1922; Albert Ottinger, 1924.
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Appellate Division shall certify to him that one or more additional justices are needed for the speedy disposition of the business before. it. Whenever the Applellate Division in any department shall be unable to dispose of its business within a reasonable time, a majority of the presiding justices of the several departments, at a meeting called by the presiding justice of the department in arrears, may transfer any pending appeals from such depart- ment to any other department for hearing and determination. No justice of the Appellate Division shall, within the department to which he may be designated to perform the duties of an appellate justice, exercise any of the powers of a justice of the Supreme Court, other than those of a justice out of court and those pertaining to the Appellate Division, or to the hearing and decision of motions submitted by consent of counsel, but any such justice, when not actually engaged in performing the duties of such appellate justice in the department to which he is designated, may hold any term of the Supreme Court and exercise any of the powers of a justice of the Supreme Court in any county or judicial district in any other department of the State. From and after the last day of December, eighteen hundred and ninety-five, the Appellate Division shall have the jurisdiction now exercised by the Supreme Court at its general terms, and by the general terms of the Court of Common Pleas of the City and County of New York, the Superior Court of the City of New York, the Superior Court of Buffalo, and the City of Brooklyn, and such additional jurisdiction as may be conferred by the Legislature. It shall have power to appoint and remove a reporter. The justices of the Appellate Division in each department shall have power to fix the times and places for holding special terms therein, and to assign the justices in the departments to hold such terms; or to make rules therefor.
Judge or Justice Not to Sit in Review; Testimony in Equity Cases .- §3. No Judge or Justice shall sit in the Appellate Division or in the Court of Appeals in review of a decision made by him or by any court of which he was at the time a sitting member. The testimony in equity cases shall be taken in like manner as in cases at law; and, except as herein otherwise provided, the Legislature shall have the same power to alter and regulate the jurisdiction and proceedings in law and in equity that it has heretofore exercised.
Terms of Office; Vacancies, How Filled-§4. The official terms of the Justices of the Supreme Court shall be fourteen years from and including the first day of January next after their election. When a vacancy shall occur otherwise than by expiration of term in the office of Justice of the Supreme Court the same shall be filled for a full term, at the next general election, happening not less than three months after such vacancy occurs ; and, until the vacancy shall be so filled, the Governor by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, if the Senate shall be in session, or if not in session, the Governor may fill the vacancy by appointment, which shall continue until and including the last day of December next after the election at which the vacancy shall be filled.
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City Courts Abolished; Judges Become Justices of Supreme Court; Salaries; Jurisdiction Vested in Supreme Court-§5. The Superior Court of the City of New York, the Court of Common Pleas for the City and County of New York, the Superior Court of Buffalo, and the City Court of Brooklyn, are abolished from and after the first day of January, one thou- sand eight hundred and ninety-six, and thereupon the seals, records, papers and documents of or belonging to such courts shall be deposited in the offices of the clerks of the several counties in which said courts now exist; and all actions and proceedings then pending in such courts shall be transferred to the Supreme Court for hearing and determination. The judges of said courts in office on the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-six, shall, for the remainder of the terms for which they were elected or appointed, be Justices of the Supreme Court; but they shall sit only in the counties in which they were elected or appointed. Their salaries shall be paid by said counties, respectively, and shall be the same as the salaries of the other Justices of the Supreme Court residing in the same counties. Their successors shall be elected as Justices of the Supreme Court by the electors of the judicial districts in which they respectively reside.
The jurisdiction now exercised by the several courts hereby abolished shall be vested in the Supreme Court. Appeals from inferior and local courts now heard in the Court of Common Pleas for the City and County of New York and the Superior Court of Buffalo, shall be heard in the Supreme Court, in such manner and by such Justice or Justices as the Appellate Divisions in the respective departments which include New York and Buffalo shall direct, unless otherwise provided by the Legislature.
Circuit Courts and Courts of Oyer and Terminer Abolished-§6. Cir- cuit Courts and Courts of Oyer and Terminer are abolished from and after the last day of December, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-five. All their jurisdiction shall thereupon be vested in the Supreme Court, and all actions and proceedings then pending in such courts shall be transferred to the Supreme Court for hearing and determination. Any Justice of the Supreme Court, except as otherwise provided in this article, may hold court in any county.
Court of Appeals-§7 (as amended November 7, 1899). The Court of Appeals is continued. It shall consist of the Chief Judge and Associate Judges now in office, who shall hold their offices until the expiration of their respective terms, and their successors, who shall be chosen by the electors of the State. The official terms of the Chief Judge and Associate Judges shall be fourteen years from and including the first day of January next after their election. Five members of the court shall form a quorum, and the concurrence of four shall be necessary to a decision. The court shall have power to appoint and to remove its reporter, clerk, and attendants. When- ever and as often as a majority of the judges of the Court of Appeals shall certify to the Governor that said court is unable, by reason of the accumu-
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lation of causes pending therein, to hear and dispose of the same with reasonable speed, the Governor shall designate not more than four justices of the Supreme Court to serve as associate judges of the Court of Appeals. The justices so designated shall be relieved from their duties as justices of the Supreme Court and shall serve as associate judges of the Court of Appeals until the causes undisposed of in said court are reduced to two hundred, when they shall return to the Supreme Court. The Governor may designate justices of the Supreme Court to fill vacancies. No justice shall serve as associate judge of the Court of Appeals except while holding the office of Justice of the Supreme Court, and no more than seven judges shall sit in any case.
Vacancy in Court of Appeals, How Filled-§8. When a vacancy shall occur otherwise than by expiration of term, in the office of Chief or Asso- ciate Judge of the Court of Appeals, the same shall be filled, for a full term, at the next general election happening not less than three months after such vacancy occurs; and until the vacancy shall be filled, the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, if the Senate shall be in session, or if not the Governor may fill such vacancy by appointment. If any such appointment of Chief Judge shall be made from among the Associate Judges a temporary appointment of Associate Judge shall be made in like manner ; but in such case the person appointed Chief Judge shall not be deemed to vacate his office of Associate Judge any longer than until the expiration of his appointment as Chief Judge. The powers and jurisdiction of the court shall not be suspended for want of appointment or election, when the num- ber of Judges is sufficient to constitute a quorum. All appointments under this section shall continue until and including the last day of December next after the election at which the vacancy shall be filled.
Jurisdiction of Court of Appeals-§9. After the last day of December, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-five, the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals, except where the judgment is of death, shall be limited to a review of questions of law. No unanimous decision of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court that there is evidence supporting or tending to sustain a finding of fact or a verdict not directed by the court, shall be reviewed by the Court of Appeals. Except where the judgment is of death, appeals may be taken, as a right, to said court only from judgments or orders entered upon decisions of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, finally determining actions or special proceedings, and from orders granting new trials on exceptions, where the appellants stipulate that upon affirmance judgment absolute shall be rendered against them. The Appellate Division in any department may, however, allow an appeal upon any question of law which, in its opinion, ought to be reviewed by the Court of Appeals.
The Legislature may further restrict the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals and the right of appeal thereto, but the right of appeal shall not depend upon the amount involved.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to orders made or judg-
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ments rendered by any General Term before the last day of December, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-five, but appeals therefrom may be taken under existing provisions of law.
Judges Not to Hold Any Other Office-§Io. The Judges of the Court of Appeals and the Justices of the Supreme Court shall not hold any other office or public trust. All votes for any of them, for any other than a judicial office, given by the Legislature or the People, shall be void.
Removal of Judges-§II. Judges of the Court of Appeals and Justices of the Supreme Court may be removed by concurrent resolution of both houses of the Legislature, if two-thirds of all the members elected to each house concur therein. All other judicial officers, except Justices of the Peace, and judges or justices of inferior courts not of record, may be removed by the Senate, on the recommendation of the Governor, if two- thirds of all the members elected to the Senate concur therein. But no officer shall be removed by virtue of this section except for cause, which shall be entered on the journals, nor unless he shall have been served with a state- ment of the cause alleged, and shall have had an opportunity to be heard. On the question of removal, the yeas and nays shall be entered on the journal.
Compensation; Age Restriction; Assignment by Governor-§12 (as amended November 2, 1909). No person shall hold the office of Judge or Justice of any court longer than until and including the last day of Decem- ber next after he shall be seventy years of age. Each Justice of the Supreme Court shall receive from the State the sum of ten thousand dollars per year. Those assigned to the Appellate Division in the Third and Fourth Departments shall each receive, in addition, the sum of two thousand dollars, and the Presiding Justices thereof the sum of two thousand five hundred dollars per year. Those Justices elected in the First and Second Judicial Departments shall continue to receive from their respective cities, counties, or districts, as now provided by law, such additional compensation as will make their aggregate compensation what they are now receiving. Those Justices elected in any judicial department other than the First or Second, and assigned to the Appellate Divisions of the First and Second Depart- ments shall, while so assigned, recieve from those departments, respectively, as now provided by law, such additional sum as is paid to the Justices of those departments. A Justice elected in the Third or Fourth Department assigned by the Appellate Division, or designated by the Governor to hold a trial, or special term, in a judicial district other than that in which he is elected, shall receive, in addition, ten dollars per day for expenses while actually so engaged in holding such term, which shall be paid by the State and charged upon the judicial district where the service is rendered. The compensation herein provided shall be in lieu of and shall exclude all other compensation and allowance of said Justices for expenses of every kind and
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nature whatsoever. The provisions of this section shall apply to the Judges and Justices now in office and to those hereafter elected.
Trial of Impeachments-§13. The Assembly shall have the power of impeachment, by a vote of a majority of all the members elected. The Court for the Trial of Impeachments shall be composed of the President of the Senate, the Senators, or a major part of them, and the Judges of the Court of Appeals, or a major part of them. On the trial of an impeach- ment against the Governor or Lieutenant-Governor, the Lieutenant-Governor shall not act as a member of the court. No judicial officer shall exercise his office, after articles of impeachment against him shall have been pre- ferred to the Senate, until he shall have been acquitted. Before the trial of an impeachment the members of the court shall take an oath or affirmation truly and impartially to try the impeachment according to the evidence, and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, or removal from office and disqualifica- tion to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, or profit under this State; but the party impeached shall be liable to indictment and punishment according to law.
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