Faced with an historic fiscal dilemma—one that would lead to the brink of bankruptcy—Governor Hugh Carey announced in 1975 that “the times of plenty, the days of wine and roses, are over.” More than 30 years later, Governor David Paterson finds himself, and the state he leads, in a similarly dire situation. Mr. Carey mobilized public opinion and ...

New Yorkers are justly proud of the Manhattan-based Innocence Project, founded by Peter Newfield and Barry Scheck in association with Yeshiva University, and the work its lawyers and advocates have done in recent years to free those wrongly accused of serious crimes. Through the use of DNA evidence, the Innocence Project has reminded us that our criminal justice system ...

During a televised speech carried statewide, Governor David Paterson adopted a new, tougher line with Albany legislators, vowing to reconvene the legislative session so lawmakers can cut spending and reduce the size of the state’s workforce in hopes of plugging the state’s estimated $6.4 billion budget deficit. “That is $1.4 billion higher than it was just ...