New York City Council
Paladino presents her case
At a hearing Tuesday, the Republican council member will try to convince a judge she’s being discriminated against for conservative beliefs after the City Council tried to initiate an ethics committee process.
Paladino goes to court. Gerardo Romo / NYC Council Media Unit
Lawyers for the New York City Law Department and Council Member Vickie Paladino’s legal team are slated to present dueling arguments in court on whether the City Council can proceed with disciplinary proceedings against the Republican council member over a series of anti-Muslim tweets she posted on social media.
The hearing, which will take place in New York Supreme Court Tuesday afternoon, comes a little over a month after the City Council’s Committee on Rules, Privileges, Elections, Standards and Ethics charged Paladino with disorderly conduct for five Islamophobic posts she made on X they said violate the council rules and anti-harassment policy. While the move was only a first step in the disciplinary process, Paladino sued the legislative body, arguing that speech from her personal social media account was protected by the First Amendment – and that she was being targeted for her conservative political beliefs. City lawyers in turn have sought to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that Paladino’s claims are premature, that she’s yet to face an actual disciplinary hearing and that no official consequences have even been decided on.
Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Sabrina Kraus denied Paladino’s initial request for a temporary restraining order, which would have barred the ethics committee from proceeding with the disciplinary process. Instead, Kraus set up the April hearing, giving both parties an opportunity to argue their case ahead of the council’s planned ethics hearing later this month.
Legal experts said Kraus might not necessarily issue a verdict Tuesday, though it’ll likely come soon. The judge already gave Paladino until April 17 to provide the ethics committee with a written response to the charges she faces. Without further judicial intervention, the Republican council member would then appear before the nine-member ethics committee, at which point Paladino’s colleagues could order her to complete sensitivity or ethics training, censure her, fine her, or, most seriously, expel her from the council. Any final verdict would need to be approved by two-thirds of the 51-member council.