John Richard Dunne (January 28, 1930 – November 1, 2020) was a Republican politician, and lawyer from

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Dunne was a major figure in New York Republican politics in the second half of the 20th century. He is best remembered for his twenty-three years in the New York State Senate and his involvement in the

Attica prison riots The Attica Prison Riot, also known as the Attica Prison Rebellion, the Attica Uprising, or the Attica Prison Massacre, took place at the state prison in Attica, New York; it started on September 9, 1971, and ended on September 13 with the high ...

. Dunne was born in

Baldwin, New York Baldwin is a town in Chemung County, New York, United States. The population was 818 at the 2020 census. The town name is derived from Thomas and Waterman Baldwin, two of the earliest settlers of the area. The town is east of Elmira. It is part ...

, and attended Garden City High School. He graduated from Georgetown University in 1951, and received his law degree from Yale Law School in 1954. He married Denise in 1958 and they had four children together. Dunne resided in Garden City and Columbia County. He was senior counsel at the Albany law firm of Whiteman Osterman & Hanna. He was also a director of several corporations.

In the State Senate

Dunne was a member of the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

from 1966 to 1989, sitting in the 176th, 177th, 178th, 179th, 180th, 181st, 182nd, 183rd, 184th, 185th, 186th, 187th and

188th New York State Legislature The 188th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 4, 1989, to December 31, 1990, during the seventh and eighth years of Mario Cuomo's governorship, in Albany. Backgr ...

s. Dunne served as Deputy Majority Leader, as well as chairman or ranking member of six committees. Numerous Republican public figures from Long Island served on Dunne's staff, including

Michael Balboni Michael Balboni (born May 12, 1959) is an American lawyer and politician from New York (state), New York. He was a member of the State Assembly, the State Senate, and Deputy Secretary for Public Safety of the State of New York. Political career ...

. Dunne was a major figure in the

of 1971. At the time, Dunne was chairman of the Senate Corrections Committee, which oversees the prison system. At one dramatic moment during the riot, Dunne entered the prison with ''New York Times'' editor

Tom Wicker Thomas Grey Wicker (June 18, 1926 – November 25, 2011) was an American journalist. He was a political reporter and columnist for ''The New York Times''. Background and education Wicker was born in Hamlet, North Carolina. He was a graduate ...

and Assemblyman

Arthur Eve Arthur O. Eve (born March 23, 1933) is a retired American politician who served as a Democratic member of the New York State Assembly (1967–2002) and Deputy Speaker of the Assembly (1979–2002) representing districts in Buffalo, New York ...

to negotiate with the prisoners. He strongly criticized Governor

Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...

for the latter's actions, including a refusal to visit the prison, and argued that the prison standoff could have ended without bloodshed if state officials had acted differently. Dunne was an original sponsor of the

Rockefeller drug laws The Rockefeller Drug Laws are the statutes dealing with the sale and possession of "narcotic" drugs in the New York State Penal Law. The laws are named after Nelson Rockefeller, who was the state's governor at the time the laws were adopted. Rock ...

in 1973, but by the 2000s argued for major changes in New York drug laws. Dunne sponsored the New York law that protects the confidentiality of tests for HIV/AIDS. He was regularly mentioned as a possible candidate for other offices, including statewide offices. In 1977, he sought the Republican nomination for Nassau County Executive, but lost the primary election. He resigned his seat in September 1989.''Influential L.I. Senator Quits''
in the '' New York Times'' on August 10, 1989 Dunne's papers from his days in the Senate are archived at the

New York State Modern Political Archive New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

at the

University at Albany The State University of New York at Albany, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a public research university with campuses in Albany, Rensselaer, and Guilderland, New York. Founded in 1844, it is one ...

George H. W. Bush administration and later legal career

In 1990, President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

nominated Dunne to be Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. His appointment was supported by members of both parties, including Mario Cuomo, Charles Rangel and

Richard Thornburgh Richard Lewis Thornburgh (July 16, 1932 – December 31, 2020) was an American lawyer, author, and Republican politician who served as the 41st governor of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1987, and then as the United States attorney general fro ...

. After serving at the Justice Department, Dunne became a partner in the firm of

Rivkin Radler LLP Rivkin is a Slavic language-influenced Jewish surname, of matronymic derivation literally meaning "Rivka's", where Rivka is the Hebrew form of the name Rebecca. Other forms include Rifkin (as a recording of a devoiced pronunciation) and Ryvkin ( ...

, then known as Rivkin, Radler, Dunne & Bayh. He was recognized several times for his contribution to the law in New York State, earning the

New York State Bar Association The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) is a voluntary bar association for the state of New York. The mission of the association is to cultivate the science of jurisprudence; promote reform in the law; facilitate the administration of justice ...

's Gold Medal Award in 2006, among other awards. In 2003, the New York State Bar Foundation named its fund for legal services for indigent persons after Dunne. In 2006, Dunne was appointed chairman of a task force charged with reforming the state probation system.

2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis

On June 20, 2009, Governor David Paterson asked Dunne and former Lieutenant Governor

Stan Lundine Stanley Nelson Lundine (born February 4, 1939) is an American politician from Jamestown, New York who served as Mayor of Jamestown, a United States representative, and Lieutenant Governor of New York. Life and career Lundine graduated from ...

to serve as special mediators to resolve the

2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

References

External links

Dunne's profile at Whiteman Osterman & Hanna

Oral history interview with John R. Dunne (2008) from ''Justice in New York: An Oral History'' (full transcript)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunne, John R. Republican Party New York (state) state senators People from Baldwin, Nassau County, New York Yale Law School alumni 1930 births 2020 deaths People from Garden City, New York George H. W. Bush administration personnel United States Assistant Attorneys General for the Civil Rights Division Garden City High School (New York) alumni New York (state) lawyers

In the State Senate

George H. W. Bush administration and later legal career

2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis

Further reading

References

External links