Judge Backs Governor’s Freeze on Journalists

A federal judge ruled Monday that Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. can freeze out two Baltimore Sun reporters by barring all state employees from talking to the journalists.

U.S. District Judge William Quarles dismissed the newspaper’s lawsuit, saying the paper wrongly asserted a greater right of access to government officials than private citizens have.

“The right to publish news is expansive. However, the right does not carry with it the unrestrained right to gather information,” the judge ruled.

Sun editor Tim Franklin called the ruling “scary” and said the newspaper would seek an expedited hearing from the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“What the court is saying is that it’s OK for a politician to create an enemies list,” Franklin said. “It’s not only unconstitutional, it’s undemocratic.”

Ehrlich told reporters about the ruling at an event in suburban Washington but declined further comment, saying he needed to review the decision.

The ruling was the latest step in a dispute between Maryland’s first Republican governor in 34 years and the state’s biggest newspaper.

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

Ehrlich last fall barred state employees from talking to the Sun’s State House bureau chief, David Nitkin, and columnist Michael Olesker. The governor said they were not objectively covering his administration.

The Sun sued in December, saying the order violated the journalists’ 1st Amendment rights. The state asked that the case be thrown out.

Journalism organizations expressed fears Monday that Ehrlich’s ban could have a chilling effect on the media.

“The governor’s order ... took the normal adversarial relationship between the press and government and elevated them to a state of war,” said Washington lawyer Kevin Baine, whose firm filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of several media organizations.