Our Cases

The Department of Labor fined the Town of Queensbury for not installing a workplace violence policy but the department subsequently reduced the penalty by almost thirty thousand dollars without reason. Travis Whitehead, a concerned citizen, wants to know why. Luckily there is a method for concerned citizens to obtain public records. In accordance with the…

Christine Soderlund submitted a FOIL Request for records related to the Town of Boylston’s spending from the checkbook registers of its highway and general accounts for fiscal year 2017. Boylston maintains its books and accounts using the QuickBooks platform and denied disclosure because it does not maintain the checkbook registers in PDF format. However, QuickBooks…

The Government Justice Center has filed a lawsuit in New York State Supreme Court to compel Governor Cuomo and the Legislature to properly fund the state’s Independent Redistricting Commission and ensure its ability to function objectively and independently as required by the state Constitution. “Our state Constitution is the fundamental element of the rule of law in…

Last Friday, the Government Justice Center sent a letter to the Rensselaer County Health Commissioner and Empire State Development demanding that the county and state stop preventing out of state seasonal campers from returning to their summer homes in private campgrounds. Campgrounds are places of accommodation permitted to be open under the Governor’s “NY Pause” orders and…

Colonie Town Board Violated Open Meetings Law The Government Justice Center sent a letter to the Colonie Town Supervisor yesterday advising the Town Board to both livestream and record their town meetings in compliance with state Open Meetings Law after the Board failed to do so earlier this month.  The Town Board carried on with a meeting…