Originally Published: July 24, 2015
With state senators Thomas Libous and John Sampson convicted of corruption, the number forced from office crosses 31 since 1999
With two more legislative leaders convicted, the number of state legislators forced from office in the past 15 years because of ethical misconduct or criminal conviction embarrassingly reached thirty-one, according to Citizens Union’s Corruption Tracker. Making matters worse is that Senator Tom Libous and John Sampson were not average legislators since they held significant leadership posts in the state senate. Their two convictions combined with the two indictments of former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos shows how bad power corrupts in Albany.
Citizens Union decries the never-ending corruption scandals that plague New York State and the crime wave that it has become. More than 33% of those removals from office have occurred since 2013.
Though pleased that elected officials are being held accountable for violations of the public trust, more action is needed to address this continuing problem of corruption in Albany.
Citizens Union calls upon Governor Andrew Cuomo and the state legislature to return to Albany for stronger ethics laws to honor the public trust. We urge elected officials across the state to work together, across the aisle, to demonstrate their commitment to expunging state government of corruption. Elected officials must proactively enact legislation and rules reforms to prevent corruption before it takes hold, rather than leaving oversight of bad actors to prosecutors and juries.