Lobbying Law Ruled Unconstitutional

ALBANY – In a victory for hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons, a judge yesterday said New York’s lobbying law is unconstitutional because regulators don’t give those facing possible penalties the right to be heard.The state’s lobbying commission was investigating Mr. Simmons and Benjamin Chavis, the former head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, for their roles in a June 4, 2003, rally against New York’s harsh drug laws.The commission contended the event was lobbying and that the two had to disclose how much was spent. Mr. Simmons, founder of Def Jam records and head of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, and Mr. Chavis have argued the rally was simply the exercise of free speech.In their lawsuit, Messrs. Simmons and Chavis argued that the agency determines guilt and levies penalties without giving defendants their due process.State Supreme Court Justice Bernard Malone ruled two sections of the Lobbying Act “violate the due process clauses of both the New York state and the United States constitutions in failing to provide for notice and a hearing prior to the commission determining whether a person or entity has knowingly and willfully violated the Lobbying Act.”“This is not a surprise,” said the lobbying commission’s executive director, David Grandeau. “We’ve known for some time there were deficiencies in the act.”Mr. Grandeau said his staff and the commission have sought to protect the rights of lobbyists in practice, but those protections aren’t in the law and need to be addressed, he said.“Now, hopefully, the Legislature and governor will take the opportunity to fix the unconstitutionality of the statute,” he said.Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group called on Governor Pataki to order a special session of the Legislature to correct the law’s “fatal flaws.” Mr. Horner said the Legislature must also add regulation of lobbying of big state contracts, currently exempt from the lobbying law.The state Senate passed a bill that would correct all problems cited in the court order, but it wasn’t approved by the Assembly, said a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, John McArdle.

Lobbying Law Ruled Unconstitutional

Lobbying Law Ruled Unconstitutional

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