Melvin Howard Miller (July 24, 1939 – March 8, 2019) was an American lawyer and politician.

Life

Miller was born on July 24, 1939, in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. He graduated from Brooklyn College in 1961 and the

New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in N ...

in 1964. Following his admission to the New York bar later that year, he became a member of the New York County Lawyers Association. He also taught at the

CUNY Graduate Center The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and post-graduate university in New York City. Serving as the principal doctorate-granting institution of the C ...

and at the

John Jay College of Criminal Justice The John Jay College of Criminal Justice (John Jay) is a public college focused on criminal justice and located in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY). John Jay was founded as the only liberal arts ...

. He was a Democratic member of the New York State Assembly representing Kings County from 1971 to 1991, and sat in the 179th, 180th, 181st, 182nd, 183rd, 184th, 185th, 186th, 187th, 188th and

189th New York State Legislature The 189th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 9, 1991, to December 31, 1992, during the ninth and tenth years of Mario Cuomo's governorship, in Albany. Backgro ...

s. He was

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

from 1987 to 1991. He was responsible for the Fiscal Reform Act of 1990.

Conviction

Upon being convicted on 8 out of 19

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

charges in the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (in case citations, E.D.N.Y.) is the federal district court whose territorial jurisdiction spans five counties in New York State: the four Long Island counties of Nassau, ...

, he lost the speakership on December 13, 1991 and was replaced by majority leader James R. Tallon as acting speaker until the election of Saul Weprin to the speakership on December 16, 1991. In the case, which did not involve his work in government, Miller and his Assembly aide and onetime law partner, Jay Adolf, were charged with cheating legal clients out of some of the profits from investments in cooperative apartments. They acknowledged receiving a total of about $250,000 in three deals, but denied defrauding clients. The

jury A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartial verdict (a finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Juries developed in England du ...

convicted each defendant of six charges of fraud, one of

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agre ...

and one of using an assumed name, all involving one scheme to secretly buy and resell eight apartments in a Brooklyn building. The jury found that they had deprived their clients of the right to buy the apartments and receive the profits. Under New York State law, any member of the state legislature convicted of a felony is automatically expelled. Miller immediately lost his seat in the Assembly and position as speaker.''Miller Is Found Guilty of Fraud; Speaker Loses Seat in Assembly''
in the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' on December 14, 1991

Reversal

In 1993, Miller's convictions were overturned on appeal.

Later career

He was widely recognized as an authority on public finance and the state budgetary process, and as one of the founders of Bolton St Johns, he served as senior consultant to the firm.

Death

He died in Manhattan from lung cancer on March 8, 2019.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Mel 1939 births 2019 deaths Brooklyn College alumni Deaths from lung cancer in New York (state) New York University alumni Speakers of the New York State Assembly Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Politicians from Brooklyn