Skelos v. Paterson

Pigott, J. (dissenting).

Under the majority’s rationale, the possibility exists that the citizens of this state will one day find themselves governed by a person who has never been subjected to scrutiny by the electorate, and who could in turn appoint his or her own unelected Lieutenant Governor. Because this is contrary to the text of the New York Constitution and affords Governors unprecedented power to appoint a successor, we respectfully dissent.

*154I.

When then-Governor Eliot Spitzer resigned and Lieutenant Governor David Paterson became our 55th Governor no one gave a thought or harbored a…