Maryland Governor Loses Bid to Ban Reporters Who Don't Praise Him

Poor baby (and I do mean baby):

A coalition of the nation's leading news organizations filed a legal brief Monday supporting The Sun in its lawsuit against Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., contending the governor's ban on two Sun journalists was an act "characteristic of repressive regimes."

The 27-page amicus brief was filed in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., by lawyers representing the New York Times Co., The Washington Post, the Associated Press, Time Inc., CNN, the E.W. Scripps Co. and Advance Publications Inc. An array of news professional associations also joined the brief.

"The First Amendment is designed to protect the press and the public against governmental attempts to restrict speech disapproved of by those in power," the brief said. "Yet the Governor's order, by his own admission, seeks to do precisely that: he seeks to coerce journalists into providing coverage that is pleasing to him on pain of being subject to an official boycott if they do not."

The brief argues that Ehrlich cannot exclude journalists from the normal channels of news-gathering -- such as interviewing state officials -- based on the content of their reporting. The Sun is not asking for special treatment or to have every phone call returned, the brief said, but merely to have access to the ordinary channels available to all other reporters.

Ehrlich's ban harms not only The Sun -- in its ability to assign reporters of its choosing to the State House -- but also other news organizations, the brief said. "In short, the retaliation against The Sun's reporter and columnist has an undeniable chilling effect on all those who report on the affairs of Maryland state government," the brief said.