John Raines John Raines John Raines (May 6, 1840, Geneva, Ontario County, New York – December 16, 1909, Canandaigua, Ontario County, New York) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He authored the 1896 Raines Law, which prohibited liquor sales on Sundays, except in hotels, which had the unintended consequence of fostering prostitution. He was born on May 6, 1840 in Geneva, Ontario County, New York, the son of Rev. John Raines (1818–1877) and Mary (Remington) Raines (1815–1889). He was educated at Canandaigua Academy and Albany Law School, from where he graduated in 1861. Admitted to the bar upon graduation,
Government of New York (state) New York State Legislature. Each such government is granted varying home rule powers as provided by the New York Constitution, and a local law has a status equivalent with a law enacted by the Legislature (subject to certain exceptions and restrictions). New York also has various corporate entities that serve single purposes that are also local governments, such as school and fire districts as well as New York state public-benefit corporations, frequently known as "authorities" or "development corporations". New York has 62 counties, which are subdivided into 932 towns and 62 cities; it also has 10 Indian reservations. In total,