Read decision.<\/a><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nBarnhart was forced to sue Monroe County after Bello refused to provide a legal defense in a frivolous defamation lawsuit filed by dentist Nicholas Nicosia. The lawsuit stemmed from Barnhart\u2019s remarks at a 2022 press conference defending Rochester firefighter Jarred Jones, who was compelled to attend an alleged “Juneteenth spoof party” at Nicosia\u2019s house while on duty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The County Executive argued that Barnhart\u2019s comments were outside the scope of her official duties. The court strongly disagreed, affirming that legislators have broad authority to advocate for their constituents and address matters of public concern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The court made clear: being a legislator is not confined to attending meetings,” Barnhart said. “Legislators are elected to speak out, investigate injustice, and defend the public interest\u2014and we don\u2019t need the County Executive\u2019s permission to do our jobs.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Barnhart emphasized that Bello\u2019s refusal to defend her was retaliatory and costly\u2014not only to her personally, but to Monroe County taxpayers. Because the County initially declined to defend her, Nicosia was able to prolong his lawsuit, resulting in unnecessary expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This case was never about legal technicalities. It was about power, retaliation, and silencing a dissenting voice,” Barnhart said. “Today\u2019s unanimous ruling protects every elected official\u2019s ability to advocate fearlessly on behalf of the people.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because the court\u2019s decision was unanimous, the County Executive cannot appeal. Barnhart and her attorney are now exploring additional legal options to seek recovery of costs, including for taxpayers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a major victory for democracy and free speech, a New York State appeals court today unanimously ruled in favor of Monroe County Legislator Rachel Barnhart, rejecting County Executive Adam Bello\u2019s attempt to narrowly redefine the role of a legislator. Read decision. Barnhart was forced to sue Monroe County after Bello refused to provide a… Continue Reading Appeals Court Delivers Unanimous Victory to Legislator Barnhart<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"spectra_blocks_featured_image_url":null,"spectra_blocks_author_info":{"display_name":"Rachel Barnhart","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8668089d3b1c60b2b1f51f9c490f09dbcbed1353b6c7df228edda0e90124e38d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_link":"https:\/\/rachbarnhart.com\/?author=1","description":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rachbarnhart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rachbarnhart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rachbarnhart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rachbarnhart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rachbarnhart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2228"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rachbarnhart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2229,"href":"https:\/\/rachbarnhart.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2228\/revisions\/2229"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rachbarnhart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rachbarnhart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rachbarnhart.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}