Updated September 14, 2025
This summer, the Town of Marlborough took the unusual step of issuing a cease-and-desist letter to the moderators of the Facebook group Marlboro/Milton Moms & Dads. The letter, sent by the town’s attorney, demanded the removal of a post that included an inflammatory allegation against Building Inspector Thomas Corcoran, who also serves as an Ulster County legislator.
At the center of the controversy is an anonymous Facebook post accusing Corcoran of accepting bribes, stating “If you have enough $ you should be able to do anything you want, our building inspector has been known to take bribes,” an accusation the town attorney claims is both false and defamatory. In the letter, the Town’s attorney “suggest[s] that attached statements posted on the forum be removed and that members who posted same be banned” and then goes on request the names and addresses of anonymous members who posted the statement.
The redacted letters are included in full at the end of this article.
Understanding Cease-and-Desist Letters
A cease-and-desist letter is not a court order. Rather, it is a legal warning: a formal demand to stop certain behavior—in this case, allegedly defamatory speech. While serious in tone, such letters carry no legal enforcement unless followed by a lawsuit.
The use of this tactic by a municipal government to challenge speech about a public official directly invokes First Amendment concerns. Deploying legal threats through a taxpayer-funded office to suppress criticism of an elected official represents a potential misuse of public resources and authority. New York’s anti-SLAPP law is designed to protect individuals and organizations from lawsuits intended to silence or intimidate them for exercising free speech, especially when speaking on matters of public interest.
SLAPP suits (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) are cases filed not to win on legal grounds but to burden critics with legal costs and discourage public criticism or opposition.
For a public official to actually succeed in a defamation case, they would need to prove that the statement was false and made with “actual malice”, which is knowing it was false or showing reckless disregard for whether it was true.
The Daily Freeman reported earlier this year that Mr. Corcoran used thousands of dollars from a youth football league’s Paypal account. The Freeman’s analysis of the account’s receipts show “Corcoran paid for flowers — including arrangements sent to the Ulster County Legislature Clerk’s Office — a pair of $66.53 size 12.5 Under Armour sneakers a $44.10 toddler’s Halloween costume, $215.99 for a car part for a Chevy Camaro and a monthly subscription to HBO Max.”
The Daily Freeman article also provides detail of a dispute between Mr. Corcoran and the Marlboro Youth Football and Cheerleading Inc. but does not reference any evidence of misuse of funds within the role of Building Inspector.
Members of the Marlborough community have voiced their concerns around the use of government resources, the municipal attorney, to silence free speech in a community forum. One resident, Rhiannon Shields, voiced her concerns, stating “I want to know where the money came from to pay for these legal feels. I also want to know why [the Building Inspector’s] brother (town supervisor) was cc’d onto the cease and desist.”
One of the recipients of the cease-and-desist letter, Denna Flannery, stated she “felt it wouldn’t be fair to censor the flow of information” from the Facebook group, which many in the community rely on as a source of information. She added that the “cease-and-desist action led me to step down as the admin of a group my late friend had created. That was a difficult decision… there was a very real fear of retaliation.”
Founding Farmers reached out to the Town of Marlborough Clerk for correspondence pertaining to this matter; the request is under review with a determination to be made on or before September 25th.
New York’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) gives the public the right to access government records from state and local agencies. The law is designed to promote transparency and accountability, requiring agencies to release documents upon request unless a narrow exemption, such as personal privacy or active law enforcement investigations, applies.
Founding Farmers will publish an update upon completion of the Town of Marlborough’s review.
Redacted Copy of the C&D Letter
Recipient names and addresses are removed for their privacy.
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