Queens Councilmember Vickie Paladino says she is preparing a legal response after the City Council moved to discipline her over social media posts that drew accusations of Islamophobia.
Paladino, a Republican who represents parts of northern Queens, said she is assembling a legal team and plans to challenge the proceedings, arguing her posts are protected by the First Amendment.
“Make no mistake, this mockery of the First Amendment will not stand,” Paladino wrote on X.
What You Need To Know
Queens Councilmember Vickie Paladino says she is assembling a legal team to fight disciplinary charges over social media posts
The City Council’s ethics committee voted this week to charge her with disorderly conduct and violating anti-harassment and discrimination policies
Paladino argues the action violates her First Amendment rights
Experts say possible penalties could include censure or removal from committee assignments
The council’s Committee on Rules, Privileges, Elections, Standards and Ethics voted Monday to charge Paladino with disorderly conduct and violating the council’s anti-harassment and discrimination policy.
The action followed criticism of several posts by the lawmaker, including one last year in which she wrote — and later deleted — that “we need to take very seriously the need to begin the expulsion of Muslims from Western Nations.”
J.C. Polanco, an attorney and professor at the University of Mount Saint Vincent, said it is relatively unusual for the council to bring ethics charges related to social media activity.
“To review council members’ postings on social media and to see these types of charges, it’s not something that is frequently done,” Polanco said.
If the case moves forward, potential penalties could include censure, which is a formal public reprimand, or removal from committee assignments, Polanco said.
Council Speaker Julie Menin had already limited Paladino’s committee roles earlier this year amid backlash over her remarks.
“I have so strongly condemned Councilmember Paladino’s rhetoric repeatedly,” Menin previously said during an appearance on “Inside City Hall.”
Employment attorney Jon Bell said Paladino’s free speech defense may face hurdles because the case involves internal council rules.
“When people argue about free speech, it’s more about the government charging you criminally for free speech, and there’s no criminality here,” Bell said. “If you have ethical standards against discrimination and harassment that everyone’s aware of, if you have a policy — of course, the agency can discipline somebody for breaching those policies.”
In Paladino’s district in northern Queens, some constituents said they support her right to speak freely online, while others said elected officials should be more careful about their rhetoric.
“It’s free speech. Say what you want to say — what you have to say,” one constituent said.
“I do want to preserve free speech, everything this country stands for,” another said. “But it would be nice if politicians were a little bit more sensitive, maybe.”
Paladino has several days to submit a written response before appearing before the ethics committee in executive session in the coming weeks. Any disciplinary recommendation would require approval from two-thirds of the full City Council.