New York State Moreland Commission on the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law Subject and Correspondence Files

Arranged by subject or type of record.

This series documents the staffing and general administration of the commission's investigation, reflecting its study of charges of favoritism and corruption in the State Liquor Authority's enforcement of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law.

The series includes: 1) correspondence with liquor dealers' associations, restaurant and store owners and managers, hotel and restaurant associations, police associations, religious associations, state and local government officials, attorneys, and others concerning: charges against establishments of illegal practices relating to sale of liquor; opinions in favor of or opposing the commission's recommendations, such as the recommendation to permit sale of liquor in grocery stores; requests for time to testify and invitations to testify at public hearings; suggested legislative and regulatory changes; 2) records concerning the State Liquor Authority, including: recommendations and legislative proposals for reorganization of the authority; correspondence with the authority concerning its operations and its administration of the Liquor Law; memoranda regarding civil service status of various State Liquor Authority positions, with a view toward reorganization and elimination of some positions; memoranda regarding authority operations, policies, and procedures, such as those relating to removal of liquor stores to locations other than those for which the license was originally granted; State Liquor Authority bulletins and divisional orders promulgating regulations, for instance those regarding packaging of alcoholic beverages, price controls and schedules, and filing of license applications;

3) records concerning local Alcoholic Beverage Control Boards, including: memoranda regarding local boards' policies and procedures, such as those for processing license applications; commission recommendations for elimination of local boards; 4) police data on alcohol-related cases in New York State, New York City, and other cities; 5) attorney general's opinions on the meaning and intent of various provisions of the Liquor Law, such as whether, if a liquor wholesale corporation officer, director, or stockholder is elected to local office, the corporation is thereby disqualified from holding the license; 6) supreme court grand jury indictments against State Liquor Authority officials and employees, including an allegedly false tax return filed by one of the indicted individuals; 7)proposed 1964 legislation and comments thereon submitted by the Moreland Committee for the Study of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law; 8) previous legislation and legislative proposals; 9) reports on previous investigations of the State Liquor Authority and the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law; 10) memoranda, reports, and legislative proposals regarding enforcement provisions of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law; 11) general statistical information on liquor store ownership, locations, and licensing;

12) statements made by representatives of associations of liquor dealers, restaurants, hotels, and others at public hearings held by the Joint Legislative Committee for the Study of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law and the Senate and Assembly Exise Committees; 13) liquor industry comments on Moreland Commission recommendations, mostly opposing the recommendations; 14) correspondence with the Rutgers Center for Alcohol Studies regarding problems relating to alcohol sales and consumption; 15) reports on alcoholism and approaches to alcoholism treatment programs in New York State, other states, and other countries; 16) Moreland Commission legal memoranda summarizing and interpreting various sections of laws concerning alcoholic beverages; 17) questionnaires completed by police departments of various cities and towns in New York indicating problems and giving suggestions regarding violations of the Liquor Law such as sales to minors and gambling on licensed premises; 18) investigation plans and procedures; 19) statements of attorneys, legislators, licensees, state officials, liquor dealers' associations, and others, some prepared for presentation at public hearings, expressing opinions on and recommendations for alcoholic beverage control legislation; 20) laws, hearing statements, and memoranda regarding federal and state (outside of New York) alcoholic beverage control; 21) financial, operating, and policy information from distillers;

22) public hearing exhibits, such as minutes of State Liquor Authority meetings and tabulations of licensing statistics; and 23) personnel records including resumes, completed job application forms, and state police background investigation reports on applicants.

Container list is available at the repository.

Restricted to permission of Governor's office.