Charles J. O'Byrne
Encyclopedia
Charles J. O'Byrne is an American
lawyer
and former political staffer to Governor of New York
David Paterson
, serving as Secretary
to the Governor
. The position, according to then New York Daily News
blogger
Elizabeth Benjamin
, is considered the most powerful in Albany
after the Governor himself. He is openly gay
.
O'Byrne previously served as Chief of Staff to Paterson during his time as Lieutenant Governor of New York
as well as in the New York State Senate
. He also worked as a speech writer for Howard Dean's
2004 presidential campaign
. Prior to entering politics, O'Byrne became an attorney and subsequently joined the Catholic
priesthood, and was a member of the Society of Jesus
for twelve years. He wrote and sold a manuscript to Crowne, a division of Random House, with a working title Going My Way, a memoir of his time in religious formation and as a priest but has held back on releasing the book. An article touching on some of the topics considered in his manuscript was published in Playboy
magazine in 2002. He is now a practicing Episcopalian. O'Byrne is an active athlete having completed two New York City Marathon
s and in June 2007 completed his first triathlon
.
family at St. Luke's Hospital
in New York City
. His father was a teacher and then principal in New York public schools, and his mother was a psychologist. The family lived in Manhattan
and Staten Island
for five years, and relocated to Oceanport
, New Jersey
along the Jersey Shore
. He attended Red Bank Catholic High School
and graduated in 1977.
He attended Columbia University
and graduated summa cum laude in 1981, majoring in history with a concentration in the Medieval and Renaissance periods. O'Byrne was a member of the crew team
for three years and received the Class Day Achievement Prize at graduation. He was also a member of the Fraternity of Delta Psi and the Co-Founder of the Thomas Merton Lecture
at Columbia. He went on to Columbia Law School
, graduating with a J.D.
in 1984. At Columbia, he became close friends with Stephen Smith Jr.
, a member of the Kennedy family
O'Byrne remained active in alumni affairs, becoming President of the Columbia Alumni Association in 2002, and writing for the Columbia Spectator. During college, he took a summer job in the New Jersey
Attorney General's office
, and at 22, became acting superintendent of elections and acting commissioner of registration in Monmouth County
.
After law school, he worked as a corporate litigator at the Manhattan office of Rosenman & Colin
LLP, before leaving to study for the priesthood. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1989, and professed his vows as a Jesuit at the LeMoyne College Chapel
in Syracuse
, New York
in 1991. He earned two masters degrees, a M.Div. with Distinction and a S.T.L.
from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology
in Cambridge
, Massachusetts
. He was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest
in 1996.
A friend to the Kennedy family, he acted as a spiritual adviser during the 1991 rape trial of Stephen Smith's brother, William Kennedy Smith
and officiated at the marriage of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette in 1996. In 1999, he presided over their funeral in New York City after they died in a plane crash. He is a trustee of the Jean K. Smith Trust, the Kennedy Smith Foundation and the Smith Family Trust, and in a 2006 financial disclosure lists gifts in excess of $1,000 and trustee commissions from members of the Smith family.
O'Byrne has alleged that he was asked to leave the seminary after he objected to incidents of anti-Semitism
. He later was admitted into Saint Andrew Hall, the Jesuit Novitiate
in Syracuse for his primary formation as a Jesuit. After two years, he followed the traditional path to ordination by completing his philosophy studies at Loyola University Chicago
, while working at St. Peter's College (New Jersey) where he was assigned by his superiors to work as assistant to the President. He was the first person to hold that title at St. Peter's. O'Byrne went on to seminary at Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge in 1994, and received two masters degrees. During his studies in Cambridge, he acted as Harvard Law School's
chaplain, and worked as a teaching fellow at Harvard University
with Robert Coles
, the Pulitzer-prize winning author. He was called "brilliant", "determined", and a "hard worker" by several Jesuit priests, and followed the conservatism of Pope
John Paul II, with one priest describing him as "being part of the orthodoxy police, theologically, making sure the teachers were really teaching the party line and all that stuff. Charles was seen on that part of the culture wars."
In 1996, he was ordained as a priest, working at St. Ignatius Loyola Church
in Manhattan, although his orthodoxy did not last long. He received a voluntary Decree of Dismissal from the Society of Jesus in 2002 when his superiors determined he no longer wished to remain in the Order. In an interview with Newsday
, he described leaving the elite order as a bittersweet experience, commenting that being "A Jesuit is sort of like being an enlightened waiter at a segregated counter."
magazine that alleged hypocrisy and sexual dysfunction in the Catholic Church entitled "Sex & Sexuality: One Man’s Story About Religious Life and What Seminaries Really Teach About Sex." The article caused some controversy, portraying his fellow seminarians as men who entered the religious life with "little or no sexual experience", who made up for lost time, describing that "There was sex all around me, including relationships between Jesuits." A fellow priest and colleague told the New York Observer
that the article caused some resentment towards O'Byrne.
The article was part of a memoir that was never published. It referred to some members of the clergy as "close-minded bigots". He described the prevalence of what he called "boyologist" priests who held an unnatural interest in young male parishioners. The Catholic League
criticized O'Byrnes article, noting that "he wrote of his dislike of the Church's teachings about celibacy, contraception, fornication and homosexuality.
's presidential campaign as Policy Director for New York, and was then hired as a speech writer. After Dean dropped out of the race, O'Byrne was offered a job with State Senate Minority Leader
David Paterson as a speechwriter. In 2005, he was promoted to Director of Press Operations, where he oversaw and coordinated press and communications efforts for the Democratic Conference. He was again promoted to Senior Policy Counsel and then to Deputy Chief of Staff. In January 2006 Paterson named him Acting Chief of Staff.
He maintained his position when Paterson was elected Lieutenant Governor of New York
, and was elevated to Secretary to the Governor (the functional Chief of Staff) upon Paterson's accession to the Governor. Both Paterson and O'Byrne are Columbia alumni. In his brief time as Secretary to the Governor, he took on an aggressive role to counterbalance the more passive Paterson.
He resigned from the position of Secretary to the Governor on October 24, 2008. O'Byrne admitted he failed to pay his state and federal income taxes for over five years, at a cost of $300,000. His lawyers, during an October 22, 2008 press conference, claimed that O'Byrne failed to pay his taxes due to "late filers syndrome," a mental condition that makes it difficult to file income tax returns.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
and former political staffer to Governor of New York
Governor of New York
The Governor of the State of New York is the chief executive of the State of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military and naval forces. The officeholder is afforded the courtesy title of His/Her...
David Paterson
David Paterson
David Alexander Paterson is an American politician who served as the 55th Governor of New York, from 2008 to 2010. During his tenure he was the first governor of New York of African American heritage and also the second legally blind governor of any U.S. state after Bob C. Riley, who was Acting...
, serving as Secretary
Chief of Staff
The title, chief of staff, identifies the leader of a complex organization, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a Principal Staff Officer , who is the coordinator of the supporting staff or a primary aide to an important individual, such as a president.In general, a chief of...
to the Governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
. The position, according to then New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
blogger
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
Elizabeth Benjamin
Elizabeth Benjamin (journalist)
Elizabeth Benjamin is a reporter for NY1 and Your News Now, serving as the editor-in-chief of "State of Politics," a blog covering the politics of the state of New York, and as the host of the daily political news and interview show . She has been employed with YNN and NY1 since April 2011...
, is considered the most powerful in Albany
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
after the Governor himself. He is openly gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
.
O'Byrne previously served as Chief of Staff to Paterson during his time as Lieutenant Governor of New York
Lieutenant Governor of New York
The Lieutenant Governor of New York is a constitutional office in the executive branch of the government of New York State. It is the second highest ranking official in state government. The lieutenant governor is elected on a ticket with the governor for a four year term...
as well as in the New York State Senate
New York State Senate
The New York State Senate is one of two houses in the New York State Legislature and has members each elected to two-year terms. There are no limits on the number of terms one may serve...
. He also worked as a speech writer for Howard Dean's
Howard Dean
Howard Brush Dean III is an American politician and physician from Vermont. He served six terms as the 79th Governor of Vermont and ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. Although his U.S...
2004 presidential campaign
United States presidential election, 2004
The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...
. Prior to entering politics, O'Byrne became an attorney and subsequently joined the Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
priesthood, and was a member of the Society of Jesus
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
for twelve years. He wrote and sold a manuscript to Crowne, a division of Random House, with a working title Going My Way, a memoir of his time in religious formation and as a priest but has held back on releasing the book. An article touching on some of the topics considered in his manuscript was published in Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
magazine in 2002. He is now a practicing Episcopalian. O'Byrne is an active athlete having completed two New York City Marathon
New York City Marathon
The New York City Marathon is a major annual marathon that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is one of the largest marathons in the world, with 45,103 finishers in 2010...
s and in June 2007 completed his first triathlon
Triathlon
A triathlon is a multi-sport event involving the completion of three continuous and sequential endurance events. While many variations of the sport exist, triathlon, in its most popular form, involves swimming, cycling, and running in immediate succession over various distances...
.
Early career and background
O'Byrne was born into an Irish CatholicIrish Catholic
Irish Catholic is a term used to describe people who are both Roman Catholic and Irish .Note: the term is not used to describe a variant of Catholicism. More particularly, it is not a separate creed or sect in the sense that "Anglo-Catholic", "Old Catholic", "Eastern Orthodox Catholic" might be...
family at St. Luke's Hospital
St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center
St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center, an academic affiliate of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, is a 1,076-bed, full-service community and tertiary care hospital serving New York City’s Midtown West, Upper West Side and parts of Harlem....
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. His father was a teacher and then principal in New York public schools, and his mother was a psychologist. The family lived in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
and Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
for five years, and relocated to Oceanport
Oceanport, New Jersey
Oceanport is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 5,832.Oceanport was formed as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 6, 1920, from portions of Eatontown Township , based on the results of a...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
along the Jersey Shore
Jersey Shore
The Jersey Shore is a term used to refer to both the Atlantic coast of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the adjacent resort and residential communities. . The New Jersey State Department of Tourism considers the Shore Region, Greater Atlantic City, and the Southern Shore to be distinct, each having...
. He attended Red Bank Catholic High School
Red Bank Catholic High School
Red Bank Catholic High School is a four-year private coeducational Roman Catholic high school, located in Red Bank, New Jersey, under the supervision of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton...
and graduated in 1977.
He attended Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
and graduated summa cum laude in 1981, majoring in history with a concentration in the Medieval and Renaissance periods. O'Byrne was a member of the crew team
Rowing (sport)
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
for three years and received the Class Day Achievement Prize at graduation. He was also a member of the Fraternity of Delta Psi and the Co-Founder of the Thomas Merton Lecture
Thomas Merton
Thomas Merton, O.C.S.O. was a 20th century Anglo-American Catholic writer and mystic. A Trappist monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani, Kentucky, he was a poet, social activist, and student of comparative religion...
at Columbia. He went on to Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, is one of the oldest and most prestigious law schools in the United States. A member of the Ivy League, Columbia Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Columbia University in New York City. It offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in...
, graduating with a J.D.
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
in 1984. At Columbia, he became close friends with Stephen Smith Jr.
Stephen Edward Smith
Stephen Edward Smith was the husband of Jean Ann Kennedy. He was a financial analyst and political strategist in the 1960 United States Presidential campaign of his brother-in-law, John F. Kennedy.-Biography:...
, a member of the Kennedy family
Kennedy family
In the United States, the phrase Kennedy family commonly refers to the family descending from the marriage of the Irish-Americans Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald that was prominent in American politics and government. Their political involvement has revolved around the...
O'Byrne remained active in alumni affairs, becoming President of the Columbia Alumni Association in 2002, and writing for the Columbia Spectator. During college, he took a summer job in the New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
Attorney General's office
New Jersey Attorney General
The Attorney General of New Jersey is a member of the executive cabinet of the state. The office is appointed by the Governor of New Jersey and term limited...
, and at 22, became acting superintendent of elections and acting commissioner of registration in Monmouth County
Monmouth County, New Jersey
Monmouth County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey, within the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 630,380, up from 615,301 at the 2000 census. Its county seat is Freehold Borough. The most populous municipality is Middletown Township with...
.
After law school, he worked as a corporate litigator at the Manhattan office of Rosenman & Colin
Rosenman & Colin
Rosenman & Colin LLP was a New York City-based law firm that practiced from 1912 to 2002, at which point the firm merged with Chicago-based Katten Muchin Zavis to form Katten Muchin Rosenman...
LLP, before leaving to study for the priesthood. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1989, and professed his vows as a Jesuit at the LeMoyne College Chapel
Le Moyne College
Le Moyne College, named after Simon Le Moyne, is a private, Jesuit college enrolling over 3,500 undergraduate and graduate students. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1946, Le Moyne is the first Jesuit college to be founded as a co-educational institution...
in Syracuse
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1991. He earned two masters degrees, a M.Div. with Distinction and a S.T.L.
Licentiate of Sacred Theology
Licentiate of Sacred Theology is the title of the second cycle of studies of a Faculty of Theology offered by a pontifical universities or ecclesiastical faculties of sacred theology. An Ecclesiastical Faculty offers three cycles of study: Baccalaureate or fundamentals, Licentiate or specialized,...
from the Weston Jesuit School of Theology
Weston Jesuit School of Theology
The Boston College School of Theology and Ministry in Brighton, Massachusetts, United States is the graduate divinity school of Boston College and an ecclesiastical faculty of theology that trains men and women, both lay and religious, for service, especially within the Roman Catholic Church...
in Cambridge
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
. He was ordained as a Roman Catholic priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
in 1996.
A friend to the Kennedy family, he acted as a spiritual adviser during the 1991 rape trial of Stephen Smith's brother, William Kennedy Smith
William Kennedy Smith
William Kennedy Smith is an American physician whose work focuses on landmines and the rehabilitation of people disabled by them....
and officiated at the marriage of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette in 1996. In 1999, he presided over their funeral in New York City after they died in a plane crash. He is a trustee of the Jean K. Smith Trust, the Kennedy Smith Foundation and the Smith Family Trust, and in a 2006 financial disclosure lists gifts in excess of $1,000 and trustee commissions from members of the Smith family.
Priesthood
O'Byrne left corporate law for a vocation to the priesthood in 1989, and attended Saint John Neumann Residence and Hall, a preparatory school for seminarians under the Archdiocese of New York.O'Byrne has alleged that he was asked to leave the seminary after he objected to incidents of anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
. He later was admitted into Saint Andrew Hall, the Jesuit Novitiate
Novitiate
Novitiate, alt. noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a novice monastic or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether they are called to the religious life....
in Syracuse for his primary formation as a Jesuit. After two years, he followed the traditional path to ordination by completing his philosophy studies at Loyola University Chicago
Loyola University Chicago
Loyola University Chicago is a private Jesuit research university located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1870 under the title St...
, while working at St. Peter's College (New Jersey) where he was assigned by his superiors to work as assistant to the President. He was the first person to hold that title at St. Peter's. O'Byrne went on to seminary at Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge in 1994, and received two masters degrees. During his studies in Cambridge, he acted as Harvard Law School's
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
chaplain, and worked as a teaching fellow at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
with Robert Coles
Robert Coles
Martin Robert Coles is an American author, child psychiatrist, and professor at Harvard University.-Life and career:...
, the Pulitzer-prize winning author. He was called "brilliant", "determined", and a "hard worker" by several Jesuit priests, and followed the conservatism of Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
John Paul II, with one priest describing him as "being part of the orthodoxy police, theologically, making sure the teachers were really teaching the party line and all that stuff. Charles was seen on that part of the culture wars."
In 1996, he was ordained as a priest, working at St. Ignatius Loyola Church
Ignatius of Loyola
Ignatius of Loyola was a Spanish knight from a Basque noble family, hermit, priest since 1537, and theologian, who founded the Society of Jesus and was its first Superior General. Ignatius emerged as a religious leader during the Counter-Reformation...
in Manhattan, although his orthodoxy did not last long. He received a voluntary Decree of Dismissal from the Society of Jesus in 2002 when his superiors determined he no longer wished to remain in the Order. In an interview with Newsday
Newsday
Newsday is a daily American newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties and the New York City borough of Queens on Long Island, although it is sold throughout the New York metropolitan area...
, he described leaving the elite order as a bittersweet experience, commenting that being "A Jesuit is sort of like being an enlightened waiter at a segregated counter."
Article in Playboy magazine
O'Byrne was the author of a September 2002 article in PlayboyPlayboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
magazine that alleged hypocrisy and sexual dysfunction in the Catholic Church entitled "Sex & Sexuality: One Man’s Story About Religious Life and What Seminaries Really Teach About Sex." The article caused some controversy, portraying his fellow seminarians as men who entered the religious life with "little or no sexual experience", who made up for lost time, describing that "There was sex all around me, including relationships between Jesuits." A fellow priest and colleague told the New York Observer
New York Observer
The New York Observer is a weekly newspaper first published in New York City on September 22, 1987, by Arthur L. Carter, a very successful former investment banker with publishing interests. The Observer focuses on the city's culture, real estate, the media, politics and the entertainment and...
that the article caused some resentment towards O'Byrne.
The article was part of a memoir that was never published. It referred to some members of the clergy as "close-minded bigots". He described the prevalence of what he called "boyologist" priests who held an unnatural interest in young male parishioners. The Catholic League
Catholic League (U.S.)
The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, often shortened to the Catholic League, is an American Catholic anti-defamation and civil rights organization...
criticized O'Byrnes article, noting that "he wrote of his dislike of the Church's teachings about celibacy, contraception, fornication and homosexuality.
Political career
In 2003, he joined Howard DeanHoward Dean
Howard Brush Dean III is an American politician and physician from Vermont. He served six terms as the 79th Governor of Vermont and ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. Although his U.S...
's presidential campaign as Policy Director for New York, and was then hired as a speech writer. After Dean dropped out of the race, O'Byrne was offered a job with State Senate Minority Leader
Minority leader
In U.S. politics, the minority leader is the floor leader of the second largest caucus in a legislative body. Given the two-party nature of the U.S. system, the minority leader is almost inevitably either a Republican or a Democrat, with their counterpart being of the opposite party. The position...
David Paterson as a speechwriter. In 2005, he was promoted to Director of Press Operations, where he oversaw and coordinated press and communications efforts for the Democratic Conference. He was again promoted to Senior Policy Counsel and then to Deputy Chief of Staff. In January 2006 Paterson named him Acting Chief of Staff.
He maintained his position when Paterson was elected Lieutenant Governor of New York
Lieutenant Governor of New York
The Lieutenant Governor of New York is a constitutional office in the executive branch of the government of New York State. It is the second highest ranking official in state government. The lieutenant governor is elected on a ticket with the governor for a four year term...
, and was elevated to Secretary to the Governor (the functional Chief of Staff) upon Paterson's accession to the Governor. Both Paterson and O'Byrne are Columbia alumni. In his brief time as Secretary to the Governor, he took on an aggressive role to counterbalance the more passive Paterson.
He resigned from the position of Secretary to the Governor on October 24, 2008. O'Byrne admitted he failed to pay his state and federal income taxes for over five years, at a cost of $300,000. His lawyers, during an October 22, 2008 press conference, claimed that O'Byrne failed to pay his taxes due to "late filers syndrome," a mental condition that makes it difficult to file income tax returns.