Another hurdle was thrown in the path of New York’s ethics watchdog on Thursday when a New York state appeals court ruled the Commission on Ethics & Lobbying in Government (COELIG) is unconstitutional.  

The Appellate Division, Third Department issued a unanimous decision affirming that the manner in which COELIG was authorized violated the principles of separation of powers. 

The background of the case begins when COELIG’s predecessor, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE), examined whether former Gov. Andrew Cuomo violated the Public Officers Law by having executive chamber staffers work on a book he published during the COVID-19 pandemic. When COELIG took over the case, Cuomo challenged the new entity’s authority to enforce the law.

Good government groups, including New York Common Cause, railed against the decision.

“What happened, is that the court got it extremely, extremely wrong,” executive director Susan Lerner told Capital Tonight. “They have adopted an extreme idea of authoritarian, imperial governor’s power that hasn’t been adopted in our state at all. It flies in the face of hundreds of years of practice.”

While the decision leaves COELIG in a difficult position, the entity quickly responded by saying it will seek a review of the decision by the Court of Appeals.