Mon Jun 17 Argument #537.1

CA 24-00764

MARJORIE BYRNES
    V
ANDREA STEWART-COUSINS

Appeal from a decision and order of the Supreme Court, Livingston County (Daniel J. Doyle, J.), entered May 7, 2024. The decision and order, insofar as appealed from, granted the motion of plaintiffs for summary judgment, decreed that the New York State Legislature violated section 1 of article XIX of the New York State Constitution in adopting Senate Bill S.51002 and Assembly Bill A.41002, declared those bills null and void and ordered the proposed constitutional amendment to be removed from the ballot for the election of November 5, 2024. In consecutive sessions, the Senate and Assembly passed resolutions for a proposed constitutional amendment, the ERA amendment, which led it to be placed on the 2024 general election ballot. Without reaching the merits, Supreme Court voided the proposed amendment because the Legislature, before passing the resolutions, had failed to first obtain an opinion from the Attorney General on the ERA amendment's effect on other parts of the constitution. The New York State Senate, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, as President Pro Tempore and majority leader of the Senate, and Carl Heastie, as Speaker of Assembly (Appellants), appeal. (Supreme Court also dismissed the action against Stewart-Cousins and Heastie).