Insta-dirt on Albany pols
Daily Point
Staff revolt
Are heads craned down over iPhones all around Albany and in lawmaker district offices across the state? They might be looking at the new "Dear NYS Staffer" Instagram account which in recent days has been posting anonymous anecdotes and claims about members of the legislature and other parts of New York government, purported to be from staff.
"This account was created to bring transparency and awareness to the working conditions of government employees across New York State," the unidentified account operator wrote in a post this week, noting that information sent to and then shared by the account has not been independently confirmed. "We hope this space illuminates the abusive working conditions for many in NY government without the fear of retaliation."
There’s plenty to sift through, including allegations of violent, harassing, or abusive behavior, "toxic" office environments, bullying, and "wildly inappropriate comments" about looks and ethnicity.
The messages paint a picture of what is widely known as tough, low-paid work — including, the anonymous notes say, being expected to respond to emails within two minutes, do campaign work, and toil long hours. One message describes keeping a sleeping bag under a desk during budget season.
There are some messages about how nice some lawmakers are, but also plenty of criticism and gossip: about affairs, about a lawmaker having shopped around for a district to run in, or another who just treated staff like "garbage."
The material is unverified, certainly, and the account did not respond to a message from The Point. But the genre of the allegations is hardly new for New York State politics. Take your pick of the well-documented behavior: a state senator being accused of throwing coffee in a staff member’s face, the myriad instances of vile sexual behavior from harassment to rape. With the rise of the #MeToo movement and the Sexual Harassment Working Group launched by former legislative employees in 2018, there has been more attention on these issues and the abuses often seen in the intimate, insular Albany political world.
The account is also a piece of a larger movement. Its bio says it is inspired by "Dear White Staffers," a similar Instagram account about bad conditions and bosses in Congress, where a unionization effort is stirring. "Dear NYS Staffer" has featured content about unionization efforts among Albany workers, too.
That will be a development to watch — along with what other anonymous staffer messages continue to appear.
— Mark Chiusano @mjchiusano
Pencil Point
Trump judges
Credit: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Mike Luckovich
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Final Point
Criminal justice politics
In the recent years of Democratic focus on criminal justice, there have been lots of calls to do something about qualified immunity, the Supreme Court doctrine that makes it difficult for individuals to bring civil rights violation cases against police officers and other government officials.
Enter a Robert Jackson/Pamela Hunter bill in the State Legislature that would create "a pathway in the state courts, for us to bring lawsuits for civil rights violations in the case of any violation of our state or federal constitutional rights," says Katerina Siira from END QI NY, a coalition trying to rally support for the initiative in Albany.
The bill, according to its supporters, is written in ways that might avoid some of the stumbling blocks the issue has hit in other states and on the federal level. In New York, the police or correction officer or other official sued would be indemnified, for example, meaning that the public entity employing them would still pay.
Supporters argue that having the officer not be personally financially liable — unless convicted of a crime due to the conduct — could have the benefit of helping the plaintiff actually get money and not bankrupting police officers, and serve as a way to hold agency heads accountable about training and discipline so the taxpayer doesn’t pay out.
"There's a measure of fairness in that approach," said Assembly judiciary chairman Charles Lavine, in whose committee the bill sits.
It’s part of a careful strategy that the END QI NY coalition appears to be piloting, at a time when criminal justice system overhauls to bail and discovery are being heavily criticized by New York Republicans and some Democrats in a state election year.
The website of one of their national partners, nonprofit Campaign to End Qualified Immunity, features a picture of a "good cop" and one of a "bad cop." "Love the good ones," the site says, "prosecute the bad ones."
"We wouldn't call this criminal justice reform," Siira told The Point. "Or we would also equally call it public safety reform" — if people have a perception that there’s no accountability for cops, it means a lack of trust between police and the communities they serve, meaning fewer people talk to officers and fewer crimes get solved.
It remains to be seen whether that strategy will succeed in a new political moment where politicians like NYC Mayor Eric Adams call for some rollbacks of recent changes in criminal justice laws.
No Long Island state senators are signed on to co-sponsor Jackson’s bill. Lavine told The Point that he thinks in the Assembly, members will find the indemnification aspect "meaningful," but the qualified immunity issue is not yet "on the front burner" nationally.
He said it will get a thorough vetting: "It's one of many, many bills we have to consider."
— Mark Chiusano @mjchiusano
