(NY) Appeals court shoots down SAFE-Act challenge
A midlevel state court Wednesday rejected claims that New York's new gun law violates the state constitution because it was passed too quickly and restricts the rights of a citizen militia.
The Appellate Division upheld a judge's ruling that state law generally prohibits court review of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's justification for pushing the bill quickly through the Legislature on Jan. 15, instead of waiting the three days usually required.
Cuomo used a "message of necessity" to skirt the waiting period, saying some guns and high-capacity magazines are so dangerous they needed to be restricted as soon as possible.
Justice Karen Peters wrote that the constitutional requirement that printed bills are on lawmakers' desks at least three days before final passage "may be circumvented" when the governor certifies "the facts which in his or her opinion necessitate an immediate vote."
Citing 2005 case law from the Court of Appeals, Peters wrote that the judiciary has to defer to the governor on whether those facts are sufficient to justify speedy passage, while the Legislature is in position to reject them and vote no or not vote at all. "So long as some facts are stated, a court may not intervene," she wrote.
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