New York State Department of Law Attorney General Subject Files

Chronological by year, then alphabetical by subject.

18564-99: Arranged roughly by subject.

18564-07: Alphabetical.

18564-94, 18564-95: These accretions consist of the administrative subject files of Attorney General Robert Abrams. Records include published and unpublished reports, correspondence and memoranda to and from staff and other agencies, court briefs, background material, handwritten notes, newspaper clippings, and press releases.

Records document many issues, such as environmental and consumer protection; civil rights; antitrust enforcement; gambling; false advertising; utility rate control; charity fraud; investment fraud; worker protection; organized crime; white collar crime; the Tawana Brawley investigation; drug trafficking; money laundering; defense of constitutionality of state laws; legal defense for state agencies; criminal justice reforms; and ethics reform.

A subset of records, mostly labeled as "miscellaneous" or "personal" is included. The arrangement, dates, and subjects of these records vary greatly. It is unclear whether they were arranged and maintained by the same staff as the main group of records. Of special interest in this subset are materials related to an ethics advisory committee and to Jewish organizations; annual reports of the attorney general's office; and publications for the consumer dealing with such topics as tenant's rights, financial planning, buying jewelry, asbestos in the home, automobile "lemon" laws, and women's rights.

18564-99: This accretion consists of a portion of the administrative subject files (1991-1998) of Attorney General Dennis Vacco. Records relate primarily to the Attorney General's Commission on Quality Care at the End of Life. They include a financial ledger of income and expenses of a $50,000 grant from the Open Society Institute's Project on Death in America; transcripts of commission public hearings; and a file on the Vacco v. Quill court case (re: physician assisted suicide).

In addition this accretion includes copies of "Delegation of Authority to Act in the Absence of the Attorney General" and a file on the "Attorney General's Milk Report" (Section 258-r of the Agriculture and Markets Law requires the attorney general to report on the number and status of complaints referred by the Commission of Agriculture and Markets).

18564-07: This accretion consists of the administrative subject files, 1999-2006, of Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. The records include memoranda, published and unpublished reports, analyses, and correspondence. The files document many issues, such as consumer and insurance fraud, gas prices, Internet safety, same-sex marriage, and the World Trade Center.

18564-12: These records are originally from accretion 18564-07, covering Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's tenure, and are records determined to have no restrictions for disclosure. Some records are photocopies containing redactions. Records determined to be restricted for these folders remain in 18564-07.

18571Series 18571, Subject files, contains related records generated by the Executive Office of the Department of Law.

18564-94, 18564-95: Rough folder lists for some years are available at the repository.

18564-99, 18564-12: Folder lists are available at the repository.

18564-07: Designated records may contain information that is exempt from disclosure pursuant to state or federal statute or common law. Requests for access to designated records are reviewed by staff of the State Archives and the Office of the Attorney General (Dept. of Law). In certain circumstances, designated records or portions of records may be withheld.