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

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

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

. 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 took place at the state prison in Attica, New York; it started on September 9, 1971, and ended on September 13 with the highest number of fatalities in the history of United States prison uprisings. Of the 43 men who d ...

Personal life

Dunne was born in Baldwin, New York, and attended Garden City High School, where he was a member of the 1945 Nassau County Championship baseball team. He graduated from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

in 1951, and received his law degree from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

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, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...

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. Back ...

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 a lawyer and politician from 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 Balboni entered politics as ...

. 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 best known as a political reporter and columnist for ''The New York Times'' for nearly three decades. Besides writing non-fiction books about U.S. ...

and Assemblyman

Arthur Eve Arthur Owen 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 Yor ...

to negotiate with the prisoners. He strongly criticized Governor

Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich "Rocky" Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979) was the 41st vice president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford. He was also the 49th governor of New York, serving from 1959 to 197 ...

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 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 ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' on August 10, 1989 Dunne's papers from his days in the Senate are archived at the New York State Modern Political Archive at the

University at Albany The State University of New York at Albany (University at Albany, UAlbany, or SUNY Albany) is a Public university, public research university in Albany, New York, United States. Founded in 1844, it is one of four "university centers" of the St ...

George H. W. Bush administration and later legal career

In 1990, President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

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

Mario Cuomo Mario Matthew Cuomo ( , ; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ...

Charles Rangel Charles Bernard Rangel ( ; June 11, 1930 – May 26, 2025) was an American politician who served as United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for districts in New York City for 46 years. A member of the Democratic Party (Unite ...

and

Richard Thornburgh Richard Lewis Thornburgh (July 16, 1932 – December 31, 2020) was an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 76th United States attorney general from 1988 to 1991 under presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. A ...

. After serving at the Justice Department, Dunne became a partner in the firm of Rivkin Radler LLP, 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 David Alexander Paterson (born May 20, 1954) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 55th governor of New York, succeeding Eliot Spitzer, who resigned, and serving out nearly three years of Spitzer's term from March 2008 to ...

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 the mayor of Jamestown, a United States representative, and the lieutenant governor of New York. Life and career Lundine graduated ...

to serve as special mediators to resolve the

2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis The 2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis was a political dispute and constitutional crisis that prevented the New York State Senate from functioning for a month. In 2009, the State Senate was controlled by Democrats with a narrow 32–3 ...

References

External links