New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has threatened Jason West, New Paltz Mayor, with removing him from office under the Executive Law if he continues to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies. The Executive Law that AG Spitzer alludes to states:

Action by attorney-general for forfeiture of public office. The attorney-general may maintain an action, upon his own information or upon the complaint of a private person, against a public officer, civil
or military, who has done or suffered an act which by law works a forfeiture of his office.

My research reveals that this law is quite obscure. I was only able to find one case that involved the statute, Holzberger v. Shoentag, 54 Misc. 2d 547 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1967), which involved an Election Law issue. The McKinney’s Annotations to the statute list one case, People v. O’Dowd, 8 A.D.2d 486 (4 Dep’t 1959), which does not directly involved section 63-a.

Is this AG Spitzer’s attempt to appear firm on an issue with which he disagrees or will he enforce the statute? If he does, could that cost him the votes he will need to win the election if he decides to run for Governor?