New york
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NEW YORK. The name of one of the original states of the United States of
America. In its colonial condition this state was governed from the period
of the revolution of 1688, by governors appointed by the crown assisted by a
council, which received its appointments also from the parental government,
and by the representatives of the people. 1 Story, Const. B. 1, ch. 10.
2. The present constitution of the state was adopted by a convention of
the people, at Albany, on the ninth day of October, 1846, and went into
force from and including the first day of January, 1847. The powers of the
government are distributed among three classes of magistrates, the
legislative, the executive, and the judicial;
3.-Sec. 1. The legislative power is vested in a senate and assembly.
By the second article, section first, of the constitution, the
qualifications of the electors are thus described, namely:: Every male
citizen of the age of twenty-one years, who shall have been a citizen for
ten days, and an inhabitant of this state one year next, preceding any
election, and for the last four months a resident of the county where he may
offer his vote, shall be entitled to vote at such election in the election
district of which he shall at the time be a resident, and not elsewhere, for
all officers that now are or hereafter may be elective by the people; but
such citizen shall have been for thirty days next preceding the election, a
resident of the district from which the officer is to be chosen for whom he
offers his vote. But no man of color, unless he shall have been for three
years a citizen of this state, and for one year next preceding any election
shall have been seised and possessed of a freehold estate of the value of
two hundred and fifty dollars, over and above all debts and incumbrances,
charged thereon, and shall have been actually rated and paid a tax thereon,
shall be entitled to vote at such election. And no person of color shall be
subject to direct taxation unless he shall be seised and possessed of such
real estate as aforesaid.
4. The third article provides as follows:
Sect. 6. The members of the legislature shall receive for their
services, a sum not exceeding three dollars a day, from the commencement of
the session; but such pay shall not exceed in the aggregate, three hundred
dollars for per them allowance, except in proceedings for impeachment. The
limitation as to the aggregate compensation shall not take effect until the
year one thousand eight hundred and forty-eight. When convened in extra
session by the governor, they shall receive three dollars per day. They
shall also receive the sum of one dollar for every ten miles they shall
travel, in going to and returning from their place of meeting on the most
usual route. The speaker of the assembly shall, in virtue of his office,
receive an additional compensation equal to one-third of his per them
allowance as a member.
Sect. 7. No member of the legislature shall receive any civil
appointment within this state, or to the senate of the United States, from
the governor, the governor and senate, or from the legislature, during the
term for which he shall have been elected; and all such appointments, and
all votes given for any such member, for any such office or appointment,
shall be void.
Sect. 8. No person being a member of congress, or holding any judicial
or military office under the United States, shall hold a seat in the
legislature. And if any person shall, after his election as a member of the
legislature, be elected to congress, or appointed to any office, civil or
military, under the government of the United States, his acceptance thereof
shall vacate his seat.
Sect. 9. The elections of senators and members of assembly, pursuant to
the provisions of this constitution, shall be held on the Tuesday succeeding
the first Monday of November, unless otherwise directed by the legislature.
Sect. 10. A majority of each house shall constitute a quorum to do
business. Each house shall determine the rules of its own proceedings, and
be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own
members, shall choose its own officers, and the senate shall choose a
temporary president, when the lieutenant. governor shall not attend as
president, or shall act as governor.
Sect. 11. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and
publish the same, except such parts as may require secrecy. The doors of
each house shall be kept open, except when the public welfare shall require
secrecy. Neither house shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for
more than two days.
Sect. 12. For any speech or debate in either house of the, legislature,
the members shall not be questioned in any other place.
5.-1. The senate consists of thirty-two members, chosen by the
electors. The state is divided into thirty-two districts, and each
district elects one senator.
6. Senators are chosen for two years. 20
7.-2. The assembly shall consist of one hundred and twenty-eight
members. Art. 3, s. 2.
8. The state shall be divided into assembly districts as provided by
the fifth section of the third article of the constitution as follows:
The members of assembly shall be apportioned among the several counties
of this state, by the legislature, as nearly as may be, according to the
number of their respective inhabitants, excluding aliens, and persons of
color not taxed, and shall be chosen by single districts.
"The several boards of supervisors in such counties of this state, as
are now entitled to more than one member of assembly, shall assemble on the
first Tuesday of January next, and divide their respective counties into
assembly districts equal to the number of members of assembly to which such
counties are now severally entitled by law, and shall cause to be filed in
the offices of the secretary of state and the clerks of their respective
counties, a description of such assembly districts, specifying the number of
each district and the population thereof, according to the last preceding
state enumeration, as near as can be ascertained. Each assembly district
shall contain, as nearly as may be, an equal number of inhabitants,
excluding aliens and persons of color not taxed, and shall consist of
convenient. and contiguous territory; but no town shall be divided in the
formation of assembly districts.
"The legislature, at its first session after the return of every
enumeration, shall re-apportion the members of assembly among the several
counties of this state, in manner aforesaid, and the boards of supervisors
in such counties as, may be entitled, under such reapportionment, to more
than one member, shall assemble at such time as the legislature making such
reapportionment shall prescribe, and divide such counties into assembly
districts, in the manner herein directed and the apportionment and districts
so to be made, shall remain unaltered until another enumeration shall be
taken under the provisions of the preceding section.
"Every county heretofore established and separately organized, except
the county of Hamilton, shall always be entitled to one member of the
assembly, and no new county shall be hereafter erected, unless its
population shall entitle it to a member.
"The county of Hamilton shall elect with the county of Fulton, until the
population of the county of Hamilton shall, according to the ratio, be
entitled to a member."
9. The members of assembly are elected annually.
10.-Sec. 2. The fourth article vests the executive power as follows:
"Sect. 1. The executive power shall be vested in a governor, who shall
hold his office for two years; a lieutenant governor shall be chosen at the
same time, and for the same term.
"Sect. 2. No person except a citizen of the United States, shall be
eligible to the office of governor; nor shall any person be eligible to that
office, who shall not have attained the age of thirty years, and who shall
not have been five years next preceding his election, a resident within this
state.
"Sect. 3. The governor and lieutenant governor shall be elected at the
times and places of choosing members of the assembly. The persons
respectively having the highest number of votes for governor and lieutenant
governor, shall be elected; but in case two or more shall have an equal and
the highest number of votes for governor, or for lieutenant governor, the
two houses of the legislature at its next annual session, shall, forthwith,
by joint ballot, choose one of the said persons so having an equal and the
highest number of votes for governor or lieutenant governor.
"Sect. 4. The governor shall be commander-in-chief of the military and
naval forces of the state. He shall have power to convene the legislature
(or the senate only) on extraordinary occasions. He shall communicate by
message to the legislature at every session, the condition of the state, and
recommend such matters to them as be shall judge expedient. He shall
transact all necessary business with the officers of government, civil and
military. He shall expedite all such measures, as may be resolved upon by
the legislature, and shall take care that the laws are faithfully executed.
He shall, at stated times, receive for his services, a compensation to be
established by law, which shall neither be increased nor diminished after
his election and during his continuance in office.
"Sect. 5. The governor shall have the power to grant reprieves,
commutations and pardons after conviction, for all offences except treason
and cases of impeachment, upon such conditions, and with such restrictions
and limitations, as he may think proper, subject to such regulation as may
be provided by law relative to the manner of applying for pardons. Upon
conviction for treason, he shall have power to suspend the execution of the
sentence, until the Offence shall be reported to the legislature at its next
meeting, when the legislature shall either pardon, or commute the sentence,
direct the execution of the sentence, or grant a further reprieve. He shall
annually communicate to the legislature each case of reprieve, commutation
or pardon granted stating the name of the convict, the crime of which he was
convicted, the sentence and its date, and the date of the commutation,
pardon or reprieve.
"Sect. 6. In case of the impeachment of the governor, of his removal from
office, death, inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said
office, resignation or absence from the state, the powers and duties of the
office shall devolve upon the lieutenant governor for the residue of the
term, or until the disability shall cease. But when the governor shall, with
the consent of the legislature, be out of the state in time of war, at the
head of a military force thereof, he shall continue commander-in-chief of
all the military force of the state.
"Sect. 7. The lieutenant governor shall possess the same qualifications
of eligibility for office as the governor. He shall be president of the
senate, but shall have only a casting vote therein. If during a vacancy of
the office of governor, the lieutenant governor shall be impeached,
displaced, resign, die, or become incapable of performing the duties of his
office, or be absent from the state, the president of the senate shall act
as governor, until the vacancy be filled, or the disability shall cease.
"Sect. 8. The lieutenant governor shall, while acting as such, receive a
compensation which shall be fixed by law, and which shall not be increased
or diminished during his continuance in office.
"Sect. 9. Every bill which shall have passed the senate and assembly,
shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the governor; if be approve,
he shall Sign it; but if not, he shall return it with his objections to that
house in which it shall have originated; who shall enter the objections at
large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such
reconsideration, two-thirds of the members present shall agree to pass the
bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other house, by
which it shall likewise be reconsidered: and if approved by two-thirds of
all the members present, it shall become a law, notwithstanding the
objections of the governor. But in all such cases, the votes of both houses
shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the flames of the members voting
for and against the bill, shall be entered on the journal of each house
respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the governor within ten
days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same
shall be a law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the
legislature shall, by their adjournment, prevent its return; in which case
it shall not be a law."
11.-Sec. 3. The sixth article distributes the judicial power as
follows:
"Sect. 1. The assembly shall have the power of impeachment, by the 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 the major part of them. On the trial of an impeachment against the
governor, the lieutenant governor shall not act as a member of the court. No
judicial officer shall exercise his office after he shall have been
impeached, 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 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 disqualification 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.
"Sect. 2. There shall be a court of appeals, composed of eight judges, of
whom four shall be elected by the electors of the state for eight years, and
four selected from the class of justices of the supreme court, having the
shortest time to serve. Provision shall be made by law, for designating one
of the number elected, as chief judge, and for selecting such justices of
the supreme court, from time to time, and for so classifying those elected,
that one shall be elected every second year.
"Sect. 3. There shall be a supreme court having general jurisdiction in
law and equity.
"Sect. 4. The state shall be divided into eight judicial districts, of
which the city of New York shall be one: the others to be bounded by county
lines. and to be compact, and equal in population, as nearly as may be.
There shall be four justices of the supreme court in each district, and as
many more in the district composed of the city of New York, as may from time
to time be authorized by law, but not to exceed in the whole such number in
proportion to its population, as shall be in conformity with the number of
such judges in the residue of the state in proportion to its population.
They shall be classified so that one of the justices of each district shall
go out of office at the end of every two years. After the expiration of
their terms under such classification, the term of their office shall be
eight years.
"Sect. 5. The legislature shall have the same powers to alter and
regulate the jurisdiction and proceedings in law and equity, as they have
heretofore possessed.
"Sect. 6. Provisions may be made by law for designating, from time to
time, one or more of the said justices, who is not a judge of the court of
appeals, to preside at the general terms of the said court to be held in the
several districts. Any three or more of the said justices, of whom one of
the said justices so designated shall always be one, may hold: such general
terms. And any one or more of the justices may hold special terms and
circuit courts, and any one of them may preside in courts of oyer and
terminer in any county.
"Sect. 7. The judges of the court of appeals and justices of the supreme
court, shall severally receive, at stated times, for their services, a
compensation to be established by law, which shall not be increased or
diminished during their continuance in office.
"Sect. 8. They shall not hold any other office or public trust. All votes
for either of them, for any elective office, (except that of justice of the
supreme court, or judge of the court of appeals,) given by the legislature
or the people, shall be void. They shall not exercise any power of
appointment to public office. Any male citizen of the age of twenty-one
years, of good moral character, and who possesses the requisite
qualifications of learning and ability, shall be entitled to admission to
practice in all the courts of this state.
"Sect. 9. The classification of the justices of the supreme court; the
times and place of holding the terms of the court of appeals, and of the
general and special terms of the supreme court within the several districts,
and the circuit courts and courts of oyer and terminer within the several
counties, shall be provided for by law.
"Sect. 10. The testimony in equity cases shall be taken in like manner as
in cases at law.
"Sect. 11. Justices of the supreme court and judges of the court of
appeals, way be removed by concurrent resolution of both houses of the
legislature, if two-thirds of all the members elected to the assembly, and a
majority of all the members elected to the senate, concur therein. All
judicial officers, except those mentioned in this section, and except
justices of the peace, and judges and justices of inferior courts not of
record, may be removed by the senate, on the recommendation of the governor:
but no removal shall be made by virtue of this section, unless the cause
thereof be entered on the journals, nor unless the party complained of,
shall have been served with a copy of the complaint against him, and shall
have had an opportunity of being heard in his defence. On the question of
removal, the ayes and noes shall be entered on the journals.
"Sect. 12. The judges of the court of appeals shall be elected by the
electors of the state, and the justices of the supreme court by the electors
of the several judicial districts, at such times as may be proscribed by
law.
"Sect. 13. In case the office of any judge of the court of appeals, or
justice of the supreme court, shall become vacant before the expiration of
the regular term for which he was elected, the vacancy may be filled by
appointment by the governor, until it shall be supplied at the next general
election of judges, when it shall be filled by election, for the residue of
the unexpired term.
Sect. 14. There shall be elected in each of the counties of this state,
except the city and county of New York, one county judge, who shall hold his
office for four years. He shall hold the county court, and perform the
duties of the office of surrogate. The county court shall have such
jurisdiction in cases arising in justices' courts, and in special cases, as
the legislature may prescribe, but shall have no original civil
jurisdiction, except in such special cases.
"The county judge, with two justices of the peace, to be designated
according to law, may hold courts of sessions, with such criminal
jurisdiction as the legislature shall prescribe, and perform such other
duties as may be required by law.
"The county judge shall receive an annual salary, to be fixed by the
board of supervisors, which shall be neither increased nor diminished
during his continuance in office. The justices of the peace for services in
courts of sessions, shall be paid a per diem allowance out of the county
treasury.
"In counties having a population exceeding forty thousand, the
legislature may provide for the election of a separate officer to perform
the duties of the office of surrogate.
"The legislature may confer equity jurisdiction in special cases upon
the county judge.
"Inferior local courts, of civil and criminal jurisdiction, may be
established by the legislature in cities; and such courts, except for the
cities of New York and Buffalo, shall have an uniform organization and
jurisdiction in such cities.
"Sect. 15. The legislature may, on application of the board of
supervisors, provide for the election of local officers, not to exceed two
in any county, to discharge the duties of county judge, and of surrogate in
cases of their inability, or of a vacancy, and to exercise such other powers
in special cases as may be provided by law.
"Sect. 16. The legislature may reorganize the judicial districts at the
first session after the return of every enumeration under this constitution,
in the manner provided for in the fourth section of this article, and at no
other time; and they may, at such session, increase or diminish the number
of districts, but such increase or diminution shall not, be more than one
district at any one time. Each district shall have four justices of the
supreme court; but no diminution of the districts shall have the effect to
remove a judge from office.
"Sect. 17. The electors of the several towns shall, at their annual town
meeting, and in such manner as the legislature may direct, elect justices of
the peace, whose term of office shall be four years. In case of an election
to fill a vacancy occurring before the expiration of a full term, they shall
hold for the residue of the unexpired term. Their number and classification
may be regulated by law. Justices of the peace and judges or justices of
inferior courts, not of record, and their clerks, may be removed, (after due
notice and an opportunity of being beard in their defence) by such county,
city or state courts as may be prescribed by law, for causes to be assigned
in the order of removal.
"Sect. 18. All judicial officers of cities and villages, and all such
judicial officers is may be created therein by law, shall be elected at such
times and in such manner as the legislature may direct.
"Sect. 19. The clerks of the several counties of this state shall be
clerks of the supreme court, with such powers and duties as shall be
prescribed by law. A clerk for the court of appeals, to be ex officio clerk
of the supreme court, and to keep his office at the seat of government,
shall be chosen by the electors of the state; he shall hold his office for
three years, and his compensation shall be fixed by law and paid out of the
public treasury.
"Sec. 20. No judicial officer, except justices of the peace, shall
receive to his own use any fees or perquisites of office.
"Sect. 21. The legislature may authorize the judgments, decrees and
decisions of any local inferior court of record of original civil
jurisdiction, established removed for review directly into the court of
appeals.
"Sect. 22. The legislature shall provide for the speedy publication of
all statute laws, and of such judicial decisions as it may deem expedient.
And all laws and judicial decisions shall be free for publication by any
person.
"Sect. 23. Tribunals of conciliation may be established, with such
powers and duties as may be prescribed by law; but such tribunals shall have
no power to render judgment to be obligatory on the parties, except they
voluntarily submit their matters in difference and agree to abide the
judgment, or assent thereto, in the presence of such tribunal, in such cases
as shall be prescribed by law."
"Sect. 25. The legislature, at its first session after the adoption of
this constitution, shall provide for the organization of the court of
appeals, and for transferring to it the business pending in the court for
the correction of errors, and for the allowance of writs of error and
appeals to the court of appeals, from the judgments and decrees of the
present court of chancery and supreme court, and of the courts that may be
organized under this constitution."
12. The sixth article, section 24, provides that the legislature, at its
first session after the adoption of this constitution, shall provide for the
appointment of three commissioners, whose duty it shall be to revise,
reform, simplify and abridge the rules and practice, pleadings, forms and
proceedings of the courts of record of this state, and to report thereon to
the legislature, subject to their adoption and modification from time to
time.
13. In pursuance of the provisions of this section, commissioners were
appointed to revise the laws on the subject of the practice, pleadings and
proceedings of the courts of this state, who made a report to the
legislature. This report, with some alterations, was enacted into a law on
the 12th of April, 1848, ch. 379, by which the forms of action are
abolished, and the whole subject is extremely simplified. How it will work
in practice, time will make manifest.