Judge rules that canal documents should be released (Nixon Defence Used)

[Khephra]

ALBANY, N.Y. -- A judge Thursday determined that 600 pages of internal documents at the center of a state Thruway Authority scandal should be made public, as sought by an Assembly committee probing a controversial contract for development rights along New York's canal system.

But the Pataki administration, in response to the decision by State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Cannizzaro, requested a continuation of a temporary restraining order issued by Cannizzaro on Wednesday, thus keeping the records sealed for the time being.

In arguing to keep the documents secret, Pataki's attorneys cited Watergate-era court cases in which the Nixon administration sought to protect executive privilege so that decision making could be "candid, objective, and even blunt or harsh."

The Pataki administration specifically cited two cases involving Nixon's battle with the U.S. Senate over Watergate tapes and other private discussions made by the president who resigned in the scandal's wake.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--canal-buildingrig1230dec30,0,4384221.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire

[gratuitous]

1. And Nixon had to turn over all the subpoenaed tapes

It's called a separation of powers, and provides checks and balances in the system so that one branch of government, oh let's just say the executive branch, doesn't start running the show as if it's the only branch, unanswerable to any other elected, appointed, or judicial governmental entities.

See ya on the flip side, Mr. Pataki! Don't worry, your Republican-sponsored sinecure is safe and will be waiting for you with lucrative emoluments after you're forced from office for being such a corrupt douchebag.

[KansDem]

2. While we're on the subject of "turning over documents..."

Have all of Bush's TANG documents been released yet? It seems there was that brouhaha over the CBS report, but then silence as we stumbled into Election2004.

And then ElectionFraud2004...

But what about the Bush records? I mean, anything since the release of his dental records?

[MisterP]

5. well, it would just confirm what we already know: the content of the memo

was real, Coulterite bloggers notwithstanding, and we can't have that, now can we?

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. Gee, why are the Republicans so secretive?

They were soooo convincing in the 90s about open government.

[TahitiNut]

6. It's the party of "_____ privilege" of course.

I shake my head at how obvious such language remains. The ideology of property, privilege, entitlement, and ownership is blatantly inequitable and unjust - merely heaping advantage on top of advantage. The notion that people somehow rightfully gain additional 'protections' as they gain the advantages of wealth and power should rouse even the most indolent of citizens with even the most limited appreciation of fairness and justice. Why this cabal hasn't been tarred and feathered and driven out of town is beyond me.

While I'm quite familiar with how one can feel increasingly vulnerable to loss as the amount one possesses increases (the more you have, the more you have to lose), I fail to see how that translates into some ethical perception of justice.

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. Sounds like a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Equal Protection under the law. No one should have more rights than another just because they have more money.

[Cooley Hurd]

4. Good! Whatever they're hiding must be big...

...or they wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to keep them sealed. :thumbsup:

[Historic NY]

7. Pataki is just trying to cover-up his inept administration of this state...

and protect all his big money buddies who benefit from state corruption.

[TahitiNut]

9. Campaign contributions by Richard Hutchens are 100% Bush/GOP

HUTCHENS, RICHARD
BUFFALO,NY 14202
SELF-EMPLOYED/RICHARD HUTCHENS & AS
6/4/2001 $1,000 Quinn, Jack

HUTCHENS, RICHARD
BUFFALO,NY 14202
SELF-EMPLOYED/RICHARD HUTCHENS & AS
10/16/2002 $1,000 Quinn, Jack

HUTCHENS, RICHARD
BUFFALO,NY 14202
RICHARD A HUTCHENS & ASSOC
8/25/2000 $1,000 Franks, Bob

HUTCHENS, RICHARD A
BUFFALO,NY 14202
RICHARD HUTCHENS & ASSOCIATES/EXECU
7/18/2003 $1,000 Sweeney, John E

HUTCHENS, RICHARD A
BUFFALO,NY 14202
RICHARD HUTCHENS & ASSOCIATES/EXECU
8/16/2002 $1,000 Sweeney, John E

HUTCHENS, RICHARD A
BUFFALO,NY 14202
REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT
4/12/1999 $1,000 Bush, George W

HUTCHENS, RICHARD A
BUFFALO,NY 14202
REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT
9/3/1999 $1,000 Bush, George W

HUTCHENS, RICHARD A
BUFFALO,NY 14202
RICHARD A HUTCHENS & ASSOCIATES
7/31/2000 $1,000 Lazio, Rick A

HUTCHENS, RICHARD A
BUFFALO,NY 14202
RICHARD HUTCHENS & ASSOC
8/25/2000 $1,000 Franks, Bob

HUTCHENS, RICHARD A MRS
BUFFALO,NY 14202
HOMEMAKER
9/29/1999 $1,000 Bush, George W

HUTCHENS, RICHARD
BUFFALO,NY 14202
RAH TRADING COMPANY
1/22/2003 $500 National Republican Congressional Cmte

HUTCHENS, RICHARD A MR
BUFFALO,NY 14202
RICHARD A HUTCHENS & ASSOCIATES/PRO
8/24/2004 $500 Naples, Nancy A

http://www.opensecrets.org/indivs/search.asp?Order=A&txtName=Hutchens&txtState=NY&txtZip=14202&txtEmploy=&txtCand=&txt2004=Y&txt2002=Y&txt2000=Y&txt1998=&txt1996=&txt1994=&txt1992=&txt1990=&txtSoft=N