Sanford v. Rockefeller

When these cases first came to our court, I predicated my dissenting opinion on the premise, that the Taylor Law (Civil Service Law, § 210, subd. 2) deprives an employee of a constitutionally cognizable property right without due process. I see no need to modify substantially my previous dissent (32 N Y 2d 791-795).1

Reduced to its most elemental terms the due process clause requires notice and an opportunity to be heard. The constitutional guarantee of procedural due process attaches when there is a governmental deprivation of a legitimate property interest. Once this threshold has been…