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59 U. Mich. J. L. Reform Caveat 1 (2026)

handle is hein.journals/caveat59 and id is 1 raw text is: University ofMichigan Journal ofLaw Reform Caveat SUBSIDIARITY MUNICIPALISM IN ACTION: ON VINCENT V. ADAMS GREGORY E. LOUIS* ABSTRACT Building on the author's recent article Protecting Commoners' Goods: Pluralist Coexistence Through the Common Good Constitution's Subsidiarity Municipalism (PCG), this Essay deconstructs the recent New York appellate opinion in Vincent v. Adams. That case reverses a trial court opinion that PCG criticizes as an example of how current law misunderstands the proper relationship between local government and federal and state authorities. This Essay uses the appellate court decision in Vincent v. Adams to reinforce PCG's thesis of subsidiarity municipalism, to offer another illustration of subsidiarity municipalism's progressive potential, and to suggest how subsidiarity municipalism can inform the relationship between state and local bodies on budgetary questions. I. INTRODUCTION The following Essay uses a recent New York appellate decision about a local housing subsidy law' as a vehicle for promoting the thesis of my recent article Protecting Commoners'Goods (PCG).2 The New York Appellate Division, First Department's unanimous opinion in Vincent v. Adams reverses a trial court decision that PCG criticizes as an example of how the law misunderstands the proper relationship between local government and federal and state authorities.3 As law professor rantings seldom receive immediate real-world validation, I must seize this fortuitous opportunity to further PCG's argument of subsidiarity municipalism's progressive possibilities. This Essay does so in three additional sections. Section II sets the stage of the appeal, identifying its aspects most relevant to my recent Article and its theory. Section III explains, in three subparts, how the New York Appellate Division, First Department's opinion furthers subsidiarity municipalism. Subpart A provides a summary of subsidiarity municipalism, which PCG frames as the constitutionalism produced when the classical legal tradition's principle of subsidiarity is applied to the U.S. constitutional structure. In a nutshell, subsidiarity municipalism contends that the application of the classical legal tradition to resolve constitutional disputes results in the empowerment of local government to broadly exercise power * Associate Professor of Law, CUNY School of Law. J.D., Fordham University School of Law, 2009 (David F. and Mary Louise Condon Prize in American Legal History); B.A., Columbia University, 2006. This Essay is dedicated to my friends, partners, and mentors Asher Freeman and Kristina Naplatarski for their continuing insight into the function of municipal government and its special role in, and aptitude for, delivering services to the most vulnerable populations. I also thank Allyson Russell, Dariush Ahdoot, and the entire Journal ofLaw Reform team for their patient, tireless, and superlative development, enhancement, and sharpening of the Essay's argument. 1 Vincent v. Adams, 239 N.Y.S.3d 130 (App. Div. 1st Dep't 2025). 2 Gregory E. Louis, Protecting Commoners' Goods: Pluralist Coexistence Through the Common Good Constitution's SubsidiarityMunicipalism, 15 BR. J. AM. LEG. STUD. 21 (2025). 3Id. at 44. As Vincent also illustrates, these conflicts are typically litigated under the label of preemption. See Vincent, 239 N.Y.S.3d at 134. l [VOL. 59 ]