John E. Kingston

John E. Kingston (December 11, 1925 – May 5, 1996) was an American lawyer and politician from New York.

Life

He was born on December 11, 1925, in Niagara Falls, New York. The family moved to Nassau County in 1929. He attended Mount Hermon School, and graduated A.B. from Williams College in 1948. He graduated from New York University School of Law in 1950, was admitted to the bar, and practiced law in Mineola.^[1]

Kingston was a member of the New York State Assembly from 1960 to 1974, sitting in the 172nd, 173rd, 174th, 175th, 176th, 177th, 178th, 179th and 180th New York State Legislatures. He was Majority Leader from 1969 to 1974.

As chairman of the 1972 Republican Assembly Campaign Committee, Kingston was indicted for violation of Section 457 of State Election Law. The committee had distributed letters that fraudulently purported to be from the Liberal Party of New York when they were actually generated by the Republican Party. The Committee argued that this was legal under the First Amendment of the United States. The court ruled, however, "Calculated falsehood is never protected by the First Amendment." The indictment was ultimately dismissed on January 24, 1974 on grounds of "overbreadth" of Section 457 citing Dombrowski v. Pfister, Broadrick v. Oklahoma, Plummer v. City of Columbus, and Lovell v. City of Griffin.^[2] Kingston and other Long Island politicians are known to have given at least eighteen journalists "a second salary" to write or edit stories often without the knowledge of the newspapers for which they worked, including one who disguised his contribution behind his wife's name.^[3] He was also the chair of the New York State chapter of Committee to Re-Elect the President.^[4]

He was a Judge of the Nassau County Court until 1994. In November 1994, he was elected to the New York Supreme Court.^[5] He remained on the bench until the end of 1995 when he reached the constitutional age limit.

He died on May 5, 1996;^[6] and was buried at the Nassau Knolls Cemetery in Port Washington.

References

1. New York Red Book (1961–1972; pg. 181)
2. People v. Duryea http://www.leagle.com/decision/1974102476Misc2d948_1783/PEOPLE%20v.%20DURYEA
3. David Anderson and Peter Benjamin. Investigative Reporting. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1976, p. 265.
4. http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/virtuallibrary/documents/contested/contested_box_39/Contested-39-04.pdf
5. List of Supreme Court Justices at the Historical Society of the New York Courts
6. "KINGSTON, JOHN E." at Social Security Info