COALITION STATEMENT OF CONCERN: City of Salisbury’s Apparent Retaliation Against Lawful First Amendment Activities
COALITION STATEMENT OF CONCERN:
City of Salisbury’s Apparent Retaliation Against Lawful First Amendment Activities
12/3/25
We, the undersigned press and civil liberties organizations, write to express our deep concern regarding actions taken by representatives of the City of Salisbury against journalist Will Fries of The Watershed Observer, including petitioning for a court order to obstruct routine newsgathering and other activities protected under the First Amendment.
According to public records and sworn testimony, this bad faith petition for a Maryland peace order followed Mr. Fries’s efforts to seek comment from public officials and to submit requests under the Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA), both fundamental exercises of press freedom and public accountability.
A Wicomico County District Court Judge ruled that the petition had no legal basis.
Testimony and documents presented in court affirm:
The six public records requests addressed in court and requests for comment made to the City of Salisbury were entirely related to official City business.
During the proceedings, the City Communications Director requested from the Court ways to “lessen” and “dial back” the six public records requests and journalistic scrutiny, an explicit effort to curtail lawful, constitutionally protected activity.
City representatives coordinated their peace order complaint, at the direction of employees of the City, supported by City resources, staff time, and the awareness of the City Solicitor’s Office.
The City had concerning potential motives for retaliation against protected First Amendment activity, including coverage of the mayor’s alleged misrepresentation of recommendations by the City’s Human Rights Committee.
An anonymous ethics complaint was made against the City Communications Director about a potential conflict of interest. The Communications Director alleged that Mr. Fries may have authored or distributed the serious ethics complaint, suggesting further motive for retaliation. When asked by a judge, the communications director admitted there was no evidence of Mr. Fries’ involvement.
During the same proceedings, the City Communications Director made other false and misleading statements. For example, she asserted that emails and public records requests contained statements which don’t exist in those written materials as submitted in Court.
These patterns lead to serious concern regarding the well-being of the First Amendment and press freedom in Salisbury.
Taken together, these facts raise profound concerns about the City’s use of public resources as well as its lawfulness and integrity.
A free and independent press is essential to democratic accountability and public trust. The pattern described here reflects not only a concerning abuse of process but a broader misunderstanding of the role of the First Amendment in public life.
Accordingly, we call on the City of Salisbury to immediately release all requested and relevant public records so a full and open public review of these concerns may proceed in the interest of transparency and accountability.
Sincerely,
Freedom of the Press Foundation - https://freedom.press/
The Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association - https://mddcpress.com/
The Radio Television Digital News Association - RTDNA.org
Reporters without Borders - https://rsf.org/en
Society of Environmental Journalists - sej.org
The Society of Professional Journalists (National) - spj.org
The Society of Professional Journalists (Maryland Chapter) - https://www.spj.org/region.php?region=r02#Maryland
The Watershed Observer - thewatershedobserver.com