Baltimore Sun Sues Maryland Governor

The Baltimore Sun Co. sued Gov. Robert Ehrlich on Friday, saying he violated the newspaper’s 1st Amendment rights by ordering state press officers and executive department staff to stop speaking with two of its writers.

The lawsuit escalates a feud that has grown increasingly bitter in recent weeks.

Ehrlich has said his staff issued the Nov. 18 order after what he considered unfair reporting by statehouse bureau chief David Nitkin and columnist Michael Olesker. The governor said publicly that the move was “meant to have a chilling effect” on “two writers who have no credibility.”

The paper, Maryland’s largest and most influential, struck back Friday with a lawsuit that seeks to have the ban lifted. The suit argued that Ehrlich’s order would have a chilling effect on free speech by the public in general, as well as reporters.

“The governor’s action sets a dangerous precedent for all citizens,” editor Timothy Franklin said in a letter to newspaper readers. “No governor, Republican or Democrat, should be allowed to pick and choose whom state employees speak to based on whether the governor approves of their views.”

Ehrlich’s press secretary, Greg Massoni, said Friday: “We’re not going to comment. No statement will come out today.”

The court gave the Republican governor and his aides 20 days to respond to the suit.

The governor’s order came after the newspaper ran several articles examining Ehrlich’s policies on the sale of state-owned lands. The paper listed 3,000 acres of state parks that were classified as “excess” and could potentially be sold.

Ehrlich’s office blasted a front-page map that mistakenly labeled all state-protected lands as those being considered for sale. The newspaper corrected the mistake the next day, and editors said Nitkin had no role in preparing the faulty map.

The surplus land articles were sparked by stories in October about a proposal, which has since fallen through, for the state to buy 800 acres of timberland and immediately sell it to a politically connected developer.

The governor’s staff also has said they objected in particular to one of Olesker’s pieces, in which the columnist wrote that Ehrlich’s communications director was “struggling mightily to keep a straight face” at a hearing when saying that political gain was “not a consideration” in making state tourism commercials that featured the governor.

Olesker did not attend the hearing and Ehrlich’s staff said he could not have known the expression on the communications director’s face. Olesker said the reference was intended to be read metaphorically, not literally.

The Sun is owned by Chicago-based Tribune Co., which also owns the Los Angeles Times.