ACLU Says Reporters Barred From Pocomoke Council Meeting

POCOMOKE CITY, Md. (AP) -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland says reporters were illegally barred from a Pocomoke City council meeting during which the recent firing of the town's police chief was discussed.

In a complaint filed Friday with the Maryland Open Meetings Compliance Board, the ACLU says city officials violated both the state open meetings law and the First Amendment in excluding reporters from the meeting.

Pocomoke City's attorney says he is not aware of any instructions given to police to bar reporters from the crowded July 13 meeting.

Former chief Kelvin Sewell, who is black, says he was fired for refusing to terminate two other black officers who, like Sewell, have filed job discrimination complaints.

City officials emphatically deny that Sewell was ousted because he refused to fire the two officers.

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