What does any of the above have to do with sending cease and desist letters to three female association members more or less accusing them of defaming the Board of Directors?

Given two or three men posted worse things about the board on Facebook than the three women and none of the men are said to be recipients of the letter, could it lead reasonable people to think political retribution is going on?

Should we go back and examine what you had to say about various boards over the years? Would Dan Stachurski have described you as a "malcontent?"

The idea of any Board of Directors threatening association members with legal action because they may write things on Facebook in disagreement with board decisions is troubling. Proving defamation in court is a high bar when it comes to public figures. 

"Defamation is a statement that injures a third party's reputation. The tort of defamation includes both libel (written statements) and slander (spoken statements). State common law and statutory law governs defamation actions, and each state varies in their standards for defamation and potential damages. Defamation is a tricky area of law as the lines between stating an opinion versus a fact can be vague, and defamation tests the limits of the first amendment freedoms of speech and press." 

From:

defamation | Wex | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute (cornell.edu)

For some info on Maryland law on defamation:

Defamation Law in Maryland | The Maryland People's Law Library (peoples-law.org)