New York Court of Appeals
Al Sgaglione v. Arthur Levitt, as Comptroller of the…
September 29, 197537 N.Y.2d 507
Summary
The New York Court of Appeals held that section 14 of the New York State Financial Emergency Act, which mandates the State Comptroller to purchase Municipal Assistance Corporation bonds with retirement fund assets, violates the State Constitution's nonimpairment clause and is therefore unconstitutional. The Court reversed the Special Term's summary judgment and modified the judgments to declare the statute invalid. A dissent argued that the nonimpairment clause protects only pecuniary benefits and that the statute does not impair those benefits. The dissent would have affirmed the lower court's decision.