A state judge has dismissed a lawsuit that sought to nullify the appointment of Julie Cianca to lead the Monroe County Public Defender’s Office.
State Supreme Court Justice Kevin Nasca ruled that a bipartisan majority of Monroe County legislators did not violate open meetings laws when they convened to appoint Cianca. The legislators called the vote, which took place last November, to put an end to an almost year-long stalemate over the appointment of a new public defender.
President Sabrina LaMar, a Democrat who caucuses with Republicans, had said she wanted a Black person to lead the office and threw her support behind Robert Fogg, a Buffalo-area attorney. Most of the Public Defender’s Office’s clients are people of color.
LaMar and Fogg filed the lawsuit to repeal the appointment of Cianca, arguing that the legislators held the vote illegally.
In his decision, Nasca disagreed. The group of legislators, he wrote, gave proper notice of the meeting and held it in open session.
While LaMar and most of the Legislature Republicans supported Fogg, he did not have the support of a majority of legislators.
The 14-member Democratic minority teamed up with two Republicans to call the special meeting where legislators voted 15-1 to appoint Cianca.
