Silver graduated from Yeshiva University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1965, and earned his Juris Doctor from Brooklyn Law School in 1968.

In 2007, the New York Post charged that Silver's refusal to disclose the terms of his employment or the income he received raised suspicions of a conflict of interest.

The Court found this provision unconstitutional, reasoning that this instruction would make execution seem preferable to juries because they would wish to avoid a defendant's potential future release on parole.

[16] In December 2005, after two New York City police officers were killed in as many months, Governor George Pataki called for reinstatement of the death penalty.

The New York Times quoted Silver's spokesman Charles Carrier as saying, "He no longer supports it because Assembly hearings have shown it is not the most effective way to improve public safety.

This complex and highly politicized system made the Speaker a central figure, continually courted by major participants in the real-estate industry.

Silver was criticized by city leaders for removing the tax, and although he suggested he would support reinstating it after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001,[21] he took no steps to do so.

In 2000, Silver faced an attempted "coup" in the Assembly as members, primarily from Upstate New York and dissatisfied with his leadership style, tried to overthrow him as Speaker.

When a meeting of the Democratic Assembly Conference indicated the proposal lacked sufficient support, Silver declined to schedule a vote on the measure, and it died.

[23] Silver, in his role as Speaker, was widely blamed for the delay in passing legislation allowing professional mixed martial arts in New York State.

Silver apologized for not reporting cases to the Assembly's Ethics Committee as required, and said that since then he "put in place new policies to ensure these incidents are dealt with swiftly and transparently.

"[28][29] On January 7, 2015, Silver was re-elected Speaker of the New York State Assembly for the 11th time, with almost unanimous support from the Democratic majority despite an ongoing federal probe into his outside income.

Investigators led by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara charged that Silver did not properly disclose the payments from the firm on his annual financial disclosure filings with the state.

[33] Similar charges were also filed involving millions of dollars in referral fees that Silver received from the law firm Weitz & Luxenberg.

In this scheme, Silver was alleged to have directed about $500,000 in state grants to Dr. Robert Taub, a researcher in diseases caused by asbestos and the director of the Columbia University Mesothelioma Center.

[38][39] Both Taub and another of Silver's longtime associates, Brian Meara, provided key information to investigators in exchange for non-prosecution agreements.

[31][40] On January 30, after a week of intense political pressure and dwindling support, Silver submitted his resignation as Speaker, effective February 2, while retaining his seat as a member of the Assembly[41] and vowing to fight the charges against him.

[13] The New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, which handles judicial and attorney misconduct, affirmed his automatic disbarment for the felony convictions.

Sara Foss, writing for the Daily Gazette, said that during his speakership, "he wielded an enormous amount of power, while also using his office for personal gain."

[65] In 2018, Daniel Leddy of the Staten Island Advance wrote "As speaker of the New York State Assembly, Sheldon Silver was corruption personified, an iron-fisted dictator who turned that legislative body into his own personal, profit-making enterprise.

[69][70] By the time he became Speaker of the Assembly, he was known to play basketball with other high-ranking officials, including former Governor Mario Cuomo and former New York State Comptroller Alan G.

[71] Two weeks after Silver's first criminal conviction, his son-in-law Marcello Trebitsch was sentenced to prison for a separate multimillion-dollar crime, also prosecuted by Bharara's office.