Richard Ravitch Appointment Rejected By Appellate Division

NEW YORK — An appeals court Thursday struck down Gov. David Paterson's appointment of a lieutenant governor, upholding a constitutional challenge to a move spurred by a paralyzing political drama in the state Senate.

The decision at least temporarily prevents longtime government adviser Richard Ravitch from serving as the state's second-highest executive, though the case is expected to go on to the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals.

The appellate panel said no state law or constitutional provision allows the lieutenant governor's post to be filled by anything but an election, making the appointment unlawful.

The decision upheld a lower court's order blocking Ravitch from holding the post, an order that had been stayed while the Supreme Court's Appellate Division considered the case.

The Democratic governor said he was "obviously disappointed" by the ruling, though he noted that it gave him permission to take the case to the Court of Appeals.

"The governor does have the explicit right to fill vacancies, and we see the lieutenant governor as one of those offices," he said.

The Appellate Division did not, providing at least a short-term victory for Senate Republican leader Dean Skelos, who brought the challenge.

"The appellate court today upheld the position I have taken all along, that the governor acted recklessly and unconstitutionally when he put his own political interests ahead of the public interest to appoint a lieutenant governor," Skelos said in a statement.

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Paterson tapped Ravitch for the post on July 8 to break up a monthlong Senate leadership logjam. Besides filling in when the governor is out of state or unable to discharge his or her duties, New York's lieutenant governor has the power to preside over the Senate and cast tie-breaking votes.

The Senate resolved the power struggle on its own shortly after Ravitch was appointed. Democratic Sen. Pedro Espada – who had joined Republicans to overthrow Democratic leadership, leading to a 31-31 voting bloc deadlock – returned to the Democratic conference.

Espada initially joined in challenging Ravitch's appointment but has since bowed out.

The lieutenant governorship had been vacant since Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned in a prostitution scandal in March 2008, making then-lieutenant governor Paterson chief executive.

Paterson said state law allowed the appointment until the next gubernatorial election in November 2010, and he maintained the state needed Ravitch's help weathering a fiscal crisis. Ravitch, a business executive, has counseled New York governors through crises going back to the 1970s.

Skelos argued the move deprived New Yorkers of a say in choosing the person who stands second in line for the governorship.

"We have no quarrel with those who say that having a man of Mr. Ravitch's stature, knowledge, and experience in the office of lieutenant governor would promote the public interest by providing help and counsel to the governor in difficult times and by bringing much-needed stability to the government of this state," the four-judge appellate panel wrote.

"We conclude, however, that the governor simply does not have the authority to appoint a lieutenant governor."

Paterson also praised Ravitch's qualifications and said Thursday he would be willing to submit the appointment to Senate confirmation – a prospect Skelos' camp dismissed as lacking a legal basis.

"The governor maybe ought to brush up on the constitution," Senate Republican spokesman John McArdle said.

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Associated Press writers Virginia Byrne in New York and Michael Gormley in Albany, N.Y., contributed to this report.

Comments

[FBatRNC]

This decision was made by an appeals court so they have the authority to overturn decisions made by the lower courts.

[messy]

the appointment was illegal, but does the court have a right to remove an official from office after a lower court said it was okay for him/her to serve?