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Circuit Co urt for Baltim ore City Case No. 24-C-03-003540

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF MARYLAND No. 128 September Term, 2003 ______________________________________ MELANIE SENTER LUBIN, SECURITIES COMMISSIONER FOR THE STATE OF MARYLAND v. AGORA, INC. ______________________________________ Bell, C.J. Raker Cathell Harrell Battaglia Greene Eldridge, John C. (Retired, specially assigned) JJ. ______________________________________ Opinion by Raker, J. ______________________________________ Filed: September 12, 2005

Pursuant to an investigation into potential violations of Maryland securities laws, appellant, the Maryland Securities Commissioner, served two subpoenas duces tecum on appellee, Agora, Inc., a company whose business includes publishing investment newsletters. Following Agora's refusal to produce its subscriber lists, marketing lists, and other documents containing information identifying any of its subscribers, the Commissioner filed a motion to compel enforcement. The trial court denied the motion, concluding that the Commissioner had failed to demonstrate a compelling need for the subscriber lists as required by the First Amendment and that the demand for subscriber lists was overbroad. We must decide whether the First Amendment to the United States Constitution prevents the Commissioner from compelling discovery of the identities of Agora's subscribers. We shall hold that it does.

I. Agora is a Maryland corporation that publishes books and newsletters on topics such as investment, travel, leisure, and health. In the investment newsletter market, it fields more than a dozen offerings, with such colorful titles as "Pirate Investor," "Contrarian Speculator," and "The Flying V Lockup Trader." It also operates an investors' group known as "The Oxford Club," which offers its members a variety of benefits, including a twicemonthly newsletter, internet advisories, meetings and seminars, a telephone hotline, and use of a club room at Agora's headquarters in Baltimore.

The Commissioner heads the Maryland Division of Securities (the "Division"), an administrative agency charged with enforcement of the Maryland Securities Act, Maryland Code (1975, 1999 Repl. Vol., 2004 Cum. Supp.)

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Maryland Law