Mike Parietti has filed a federal lawsuit against Rockland County, the Legislature and Sheriff claiming his First Amendment right to free speech was violated when he was escorted out of an April 14 public hearing.
Parietti was directed to leave the legislature meeting as he spoke at a public hearing on a controversial change to the way Rockland manages home improvement licensing. The measure was passed 14-1 later in the meeting.
“What I said was protected speech under the First Amendment,” Parietti said in an interview. “I have a right to say what I said. It’s not hate speech.”
Rockland Legislature Chair Jay Hood, who is named in his official role and individually as a defendant, declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation.
County and sheriff’s department spokespeople said they could not comment on pending litigation.
Parietti, who ran unsuccessfully in 2025 for county executive as an independent, was told to stop speaking duirng the April 14 public hearing by Hood after making assertions that linked the proposed law change to Hasidic Jewish leaders.
As Parietti continued, Hood directed sheriff’s deputies to escort Parietti out of the chamber.
Parietti added: “Even if I was wrong, I still have the right to say it.”
Seeking injunction and compensation
The lawsuit, filed April 17 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, names the County of Rockland, the Legislature, Hood individually and in his official capacity as chair of the Legislature, and the county sheriff’s department.
Parietti’s lawyer, Robert Zitt, who was at the April 14 legislature meeting on behalf of a different client, said Parietti is seeking a jury trial.
The court filing seeks a declaration that Parietti’s constitutional rights were violated, a prohibition from the defendants throwing out Parietti from meetings “based on content or viewpoints of his speech,” and compensatory damages and legal fees.
“We’re partially seeking an injunction to prevent this from happening again,” Zitt said.
Did Parietti’s statements go too far at Rockland meeting?
Speakers at the April 14 public hearing portion of the meeting were instructed to limit their comments to the contractor license legislation. Public hearings usually restrict speakers to solely address the proposal on the agenda.
“A public hearing is a limited forum,” Parietti said. “I had a right to speak about the subject matter.”
But lawsuit focuses on Hood, while ordering Parietti’s removal, who “declared Plaintiff’s speech to be ‘hate speech.'”
Citing First Amendment protections, the lawsuit contends that “the removal of Plaintiff was based on the content and viewpoint of his speech, and not on any legitimate or lawful basis.”
But was Parietti’s speech about the agenda item, as the rules laid out?
He insists that his point, had he been able to make it, was relevant to the proposed law change.
“I got about half a sentence out,” he said, before people started booing, chanting “Stop the Hate,” and Hood took action.
“I was going to tie what I said right back to the legislation,” Parietti said.
Parietti said he was addressing repeated questions from other speakers and the audience, several of whom asked why changes to licensing criteria were being considered at this point.
Parietti said he believed people should understand what he believed was the power balance on the legislature to understand the legislation.
What Parietti said at Rockland meeting
Parietti’s contention: That the last redistricting of the 17-member Rockland Legislature was “gerrymandered” to concentrate more power in Ramapo’s powerful Hasidic Jewish leadership.
It’s not a new take for Parietti; he sued over the redistricting plan, saying it violated the federal Voting Rights Act, but lost in state court.
The home improvement contractor licensing changes, he said, are an extension of what he has called a power shift.
What does Parietti think of those chanting “Stop the Hate” during his comments, especially against the backdrop of a global and local rise in antisemitism?
Parietti said he wasn’t criticizing the Jewish community.
“I say Hasidic leaders because I know the leaders really have all the power,” he said. “I am not talking about everyone in that community.”
Antisemitic incidents increased in New York by 18% between 2024 and 2025, the according to the Anti Defamation League. New York has the highest number of antisemitic incidents in the nation, the group said.
Parietti said he is not criticizing the wider Orthodox Jewish and Hasidic community, and said he believes they, too, are victims too of bad decisions made by officials.
Zitt said the focus of the case is narrow. “This case is about the county, chair and sheriff quickly acting to remove somebody for exercising their rights.”
How did the Rockland home contractors’ law change?
Legislators say the law, established in the 1980s, hadn’t been significantly updated.
Legislator Itamar Yeger, a Ramapo Democrat and sponsor of the legislation, said the changes were based on Westchester County’s licensing laws.
“These changes modernize a system that hadn’t been updated in decades, making it fairer, faster, and more transparent for everyone involved,” Yeger said in a statement.
Changes include:
Legislators at the April 14 meeting said the changes would continue to be reviewed.
Rockland County Executive Ed Day, a Republican, intends to sign the legislation, his office confirmed.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Parietti sues Rockland Legislature after abrupt public meeting removal
Reporting by Nancy Cutler, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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