Igneri v. Moore
| Decision Date | 15 March 1990 |
| Docket Number | No. 546,D,546 |
| Citation | 898 F.2d 870 |
| Parties | Olga IGNERI, Individually and as Chairwoman of the Richmond County Republican Committee, Joseph Igneri, and Howard Lim, Jr., Individually and as Chairman of the New York County Conservative Party, and Joyce Lim, Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. Elizabeth D. MOORE, Chairwoman of the New York State Ethics Commission, and Joseph J. Buderwitz, Jr., Angelo A. Costanza, Norman Lamm and Robert B. McKay, Members of the New York State Ethics Commission, Defendants-Appellants. ocket 89-7730. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Second Circuit |
David F. Kunz (DeGraff, Foy, Conway, Holt-Harris & Mealey, Kirk M. Lewis, Albany, N.Y., of counsel), for plaintiffs-appellees.
Denise A. Hartman, Asst. Atty. Gen. , for defendants-appellants.
Before LUMBARD, NEWMAN, and WINTER, Circuit Judges.
The question on appeal is whether a New York statute designed to deter political corruption by requiring extensive financial disclosure by political party chairmen violates their constitutional right to privacy. The district court held that it does. We disagree.
Elizabeth Moore, chairwoman of the New York State Ethics Commission, and other Commission members, appeal from the judgment of the District Court for the Northern District of New York, Thomas J. McAvoy, Judge, entered on June 28, 1989, declaring unconstitutional Section 73-a of the state's Public Officers Law, N.Y.Pub.Off.Law Sec. 73-a (McKinney 1988), as it pertains to party chairmen and permanently enjoining enforcement of that provision. Plaintiffs-appellees--Olga Igneri, chairwoman of the Richmond County Republican Committee; Howard Lim, Jr., chairman of the New York County Conservative Party; and their spouses--filed their complaint on April 21, 1989, amended on May 25, charging that the section violated their rights to privacy, freedom of association, equal protection, and due process of law. The Commission moved to dismiss the complaint or, alternatively, for summary judgment. Plaintiffs cross-moved for summary judgment. The court held a hearing on June 5 at which plaintiffs presented four witnesses: Igneri, Lim, an attorney with the State Board of Elections, and a state senator. Defendants presented no witnesses. In a memorandum decision and order dated June 27, 1989, Judge McAvoy granted, on privacy grounds, plaintiffs' cross-motion for summary judgment and denied defendants' alternative motions. The court did not reach the other constitutional issues. See 721 F.Supp. 406 (N.D.N.Y.1989). We reverse and remand.
In 1987, as part of a broad-ranging effort to combat political corruption, the New York legislature enacted the Ethics in Government Act, which amended several state statutes. See 721 F.Supp. at 407-08. One part of the Act, Section 73-a of the Public Officers Law, requires annual financial disclosure by a variety of officials connected with state government, including political party chairmen. The disclosure applies to the reporting individuals themselves, their spouses, and their unemancipated children. Party chairmen are required to file annually with the New York State Ethics Commission a disclosure form calling for the following information:
* Any "office, trusteeship, directorship, partnership, or position of any nature, whether compensated or not," with "any firm, corporation, association, partnership, or other organization other than the State";
* Any "occupation, employment, trade, business, or profession engaged in";
* Any interest in excess of $1,000 (excluding bonds and notes) in any contract involving a state or local agency;
* Any position as an officer of a political party or organization;
* A description, if applicable, of any law, real estate, or other professional practice (Disclosure of clients, customers or patients is not required.);
* Gifts, other than political contributions and gifts from relatives, in excess of $1,000, and the donor's name and address;
* Reimbursements for office-related expenses, including travel, in excess of $1,000;
* Any interest, and the value thereof if reasonably ascertainable, in any trust, estate, or non-New York State or City retirement plan;
* A description of the terms of any contract relating to employment after leaving the public position, or relating to continued payments from prior employers;
* The nature and amount of income in excess of $1,000, including deferred income and assignments of income;
* The type and market value of securities in excess of $1,000;
* Any ownership interest, in excess of $1,000, in real estate;
* Any notes or accounts receivable in excess of $1,000, including the name of the debtor and nature of the obligation;
* Any personal liabilities in excess of $5,000, including the name of the creditor and the collateral.
N.Y.Pub.Off.Law Sec. 73-a(3) (McKinney 1988 & Supp.1990). Where disclosure of values or amounts is requested, dollar amounts are letter-coded (for example, Category C covers amounts of $20,000 to under $60,000). See id. All disclosed information is open for public inspection except the categories of value or amount. See N.Y.Exec.Law Sec. 94(17)(a)(1) (McKinney Supp.1990).
The statute defines "political party chairman" to include the chairman of the state committee of a party; the chairman of a county committee where the county population is 300,000 or more or the chairman receives $30,000 or more in compensation or expenses; and persons who perform general managerial functions for county committees where the county population is 300,000 or more or who received $30,000 or more in compensation or expenses. N.Y.Pub.Off.Law Sec. 73(1)(k) (McKinney 1988).
The State Ethics Commission has the duty to enforce the disclosure provisions. Persons who "knowingly and wilfully" fail to file the required forms, or file forms containing false information with the intent to deceive, are subject to civil penalties of up to $10,000 or criminal prosecution for a misdemeanor. Id. at Sec. 73-a(4) (McKinney Supp.1990).
Non-disclosure and exemption procedures
Section 94(18) of the state's Executive Law, N.Y.Exec.Law Sec. 94(18) (McKinney Supp.1990), establishes, within the Commission, a "public advisory council." The Council's purpose is to screen requests by persons subject to the filing requirement that the Commission withhold from public inspection any information having "no material bearing on the discharge of the reporting person's official duties." Id. at Sec. 94(18)(h)(1). The reporting individual also may request an exemption from disclosure as it pertains to his spouse and any unemancipated children. Id. at Sec. 94(18)(h)(2).
Adverse Council decisions may be appealed to the Commission. Section 94(13) of the Executive Law deems the Commission an "agency" within the meaning of the State Administrative Procedure Act (State APA), thereby requiring the Commission to "adopt rules governing the conduct of adjudicatory proceedings and appeals" that "provide for due process procedural mechanisms substantially similar to those set forth in" the State APA. Id. at Sec. 94(13). The Commission's decisions are subject to judicial review pursuant to article 78 of the state's Civil Practice Law and Rules, N.Y.Civ.Prac.L. & R. 7801 (McKinney 1981). N.Y.Exec.Law Sec. 94(13) (McKinney Supp.1990).
According to the Council's statement of "Procedure to Request Deletions or Exemptions from Financial Disclosure," the Council considers the following factors in evaluating a request that certain disclosed information be withheld from public inspection or exempted from reporting: "whether the information is of a highly personal nature, whether it relates in a material way (i.e., in a substantial and important way) to the official duties of the individual[,] and whether the information involves an actual or potential conflict of interest." The application form by which individuals request deletion or exemption requires a statement of the specific nature of the reporting individual's job duties, a statement indicating why the disclosed information has no material bearing on the discharge of official duties, and a completed financial disclosure statement with the objected-to information highlighted. All disclosed information remains confidential while the Council considers the request. N.Y.Exec.Law at Sec. 94(18)(i) (McKinney Supp.1990).
We address here only the privacy objection, the sole basis for the district court's permanent injunction against enforcement of the disclosure requirement as it applies to party chairmen. Because the complaint, as noted, stated several constitutional grounds in addition to privacy, we remand to the district court for resolution of those issues.
The constitutional right to privacy, although difficult to articulate precisely, has been firmly established. See generally Nixon v. Administrator of General Services, 433 U.S. 425, 455-65, 97 S.Ct. 2777, 2796-2801, 53 L.Ed.2d 867 (1977); Whalen v. Roe, 429 U.S. 589, 598-604, 97 S.Ct. 869, 876-79, 51 L.Ed.2d 64 (1977); Eisenbud v. Suffolk County, 841 F.2d 42 (2d Cir.1988); Barry v. City of New York, 712 F.2d 1554 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 1017, 104 S.Ct. 548, 78 L.Ed.2d 723 (1983). In light of the privacy challenge, we assess the statute's disclosure requirement under an intermediate scrutiny, or balancing, analysis. See Eisenbud, 841 F.2d at 45-46; Barry, 712 F.2d at 1559. As the district court recognized, see 721 F.Supp. at 411, the statute is valid if, after balancing the State's interest in financial disclosure against the chairmen's interest in keeping the disclosed information private, it appears that disclosure "is designed to further a substantial governmental interest and does not land very wide of any reasonable mark in making its...
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