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Government Law Center

Improving Interbranch Communication Project

About the Project

The Improving Interbranch Communication Project bridges gaps between New York’s Courts and the state's Executive and Legislative branches.

When courts issue interpretations of statutory and/or regulatory text the Government Law Center leverages its expertise to inform the Governor’s Office and Legislators about the interpretations and explain them in a concise, non-partisan, plain-text, explainer-style memo which includes:

  • Name and citation of the case
  • Decision date
  • Court that issued the decision
  • Practical effect of the Court’s interpretation of the law in question
  • Area of law affected (labor, tax, criminal, etc.)
  • Text of the provision(s) interpreted
  • Action taken by the court
  • Any additional analysis
  • Possibility of further appeals

The Review and Transmission Process

The creation of the memos is initiated either by Albany Law School students working in the GLC, who review all Appellate Division and Court of Appeals decisions to identify relevant cases, or by reviewing decisions submitted to the GLC by the New York State courts.

Judges interested in submitting new decisions that involve novel issues of statutory or regulatory interpretation may send a copy of decisions to interbranchcommunication@albanylaw.edu.

Please send any questions about the project to interbranchcommunication@albanylaw.edu.

GLC Explainer Series

This project is a complement to “explainers” regularly produced by the GLC which explore legal and policy issues of current interest, including topics on aging and disability law, NYS Constitutional issues, and policing, among many others. Read the explainers here.

Inspiration

The Improving Interbranch Communication Project is inspired by the Statutory Opinion Transmission Project, a federal program devised by the late Hon. Robert A. Katzmann and Russell R. Wheeler in the early 1990s—and revitalized in 2007—to foster communication between the federal judicial and legislative branches. Learn more about the Statutory Opinion Transmission Project.