Prohibits the governor from granting themselves or any person involved with furthering the illegal conduct of the governor a reprieve, commutation or pardon.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A1844
SPONSOR: Steck TITLE OF BILL:
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY proposing an amendment
to section 4 of article 4 of the constitution, in relation to prohibit-
ing the governor from granting themselves or any person involved with
furthering the illegal conduct of the governor a reprieve, commutation
or pardon
PURPOSE:
To prohibit the governor from granting himself or herself or any person
involved with furthering the illegal conduct of the governor a reprieve,
commutation or pardon.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one of the resolution amends § 4 article 4 of the state consti-
tution to prohibit a sitting governor from granting themselves or any
person who was involved in furthering the illegal conduct of the gover-
nor a reprieve, commutation, or pardon.
Section two refers the resolution to the next legislative session, in
conformity with the requirements of the constitution.
JUSTIFICATION:
Pursuant to the state constitution the Governor has the power to grant
reprieves, commutations, and pardons after conviction for all offenses
except treason and cases of impeachment. The courts of NYS have held the
Governor's power to grant pardons, reprieves, and commutations is unlim-
ited and cannot be limited by statute or court decision. Thus, a sitting
Governor has the authority to pardon people who may have furthered the
Governor's own unlawful activity.
Additionally, while the public officers law provides that any office
holder convicted of a felony automatically vacates their office, a
Governor can be convicted of various misdemeanors and remain in office.
Thus, a sitting Governor convicted of misdemeanor offenses such as sexu-
al misconduct, forcible touching, or certain types of sexual abuse will
remain in office and could even pardon themselves.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is a new bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Resolved.(If the Assembly concur), That the foregoing amendment be
referred to the first regular legislative session convening after the
next succeeding general election of members of the assembly, and, in
conformity with section 1 of article 19 of the constitution, be
published for 3 months previous to the time of such election.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1844
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 14, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. STECK -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Judiciary
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY
proposing an amendment to section 4 of article 4 of the constitution, in
relation to prohibiting the governor from granting themselves or any
person involved with furthering the illegal conduct of the governor a
reprieve, commutation or pardon
1 Section 1. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That section 4 of article
2 4 of the constitution be amended to read as follows:
3 § 4. The governor shall have the power to grant reprieves, commu-
4 tations and pardons after conviction, for all offenses except treason
5 and cases of impeachment, upon such conditions and with such
6 restrictions and limitations, as [he or she] the governor may think
7 proper, subject to such regulations as may be provided by law relative
8 to the manner of applying for pardons. The governor shall not have the
9 power to grant a reprieve, commutation or pardon to themselves, or to
10 any persons involved with furthering any illegal or unlawful conduct of
11 such governor. Upon conviction for treason, the governor shall have
12 power to suspend the execution of the sentence, until the case shall be
13 reported to the legislature at its next meeting, when the legislature
14 shall either pardon, or commute the sentence, direct the execution of
15 the sentence, or grant a further reprieve. The governor shall annually
16 communicate to the legislature each case of reprieve, commutation or
17 pardon granted, stating the name of the convict, the crime of which the
18 convict was convicted, the sentence and its date, and the date of the
19 commutation, pardon or reprieve.
20 § 2. Resolved (if the Senate concur), That the foregoing amendment be
21 referred to the first regular legislative session convening after the
22 next succeeding general election of members of the assembly, and, in
23 conformity with section 1 of article 19 of the constitution, be
24 published for 3 months previous to the time of such election.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD89053-01-5
