U.S. Right to Know v. University of Maryland

Court: Appellate Court of Maryland

Date Filed: April 21, 2025

Background: In an effort to investigate the pesticide industry’s potential ties to scientific research, the nonprofit organization U.S. Right to Know submitted a public records request to the University of Maryland in 2021 seeking emails of a prominent research professor at the university. UMD estimated that it would charge roughly $100,000 in fees to produce the requested records. 

U.S. Right to Know requested a fee waiver under a provision of the Maryland Public Information Act, arguing that the fee was prohibitively expensive for a nonprofit and that the information sought is in the public interest. UMD denied the request, claiming that granting a fee waiver would not serve the public interest.

U.S. Right to Know challenged the fee-waiver denial in court. The Circuit Court for Prince George’s County sided with the university, ruling that its denial of the fee-waiver request was not arbitrary and capricious. U.S. Right to Know appealed to the Appellate Court of Maryland.

Our Position: The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, joined by The Associated Press, The Baltimore Sun, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., The E.W Scripps Co., and National Freedom of Information Coalition, filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging the appellate court to reverse the lower court’s ruling and find that UMD’s denial of the fee-waiver request was arbitrary and capricious.

• The MPIA ensures access to government records, including university records, for the benefit of the public.

• The MPIA’s fee-waiver provision is essential to the statute.

• Protecting the fee-waiver provision is in the public interest and not contrary to any legitimate privacy interests, which are already protected within the MPIA. 

Quote: “UMD’s arguments, if accepted, would threaten the ability of the press and public to pursue access to public records in Maryland and to inform Marylanders about matters of significant public concern. Such a result would run counter to the General Assembly’s intent in enacting the MPIA.”