Law enforcement officers in Kansas raided the office of a local newspaper and a journalist’s home on Friday, prompting outrage over what First Amendment experts are calling a likely violation of federal law.

The police department in Marion, Kansas — a town of about 2,000 — raided the Marion County Record under a search warrant signed by a county judge. Officers confiscated computers, cellphones, reporting materials and other items essential to the weekly paper’s operations.

  • Pandantic [none/username]@midwest.social
    30·
    1 year ago

    Meyer, the Marion County Record’s publisher, said local restaurateur Kari Newell accused the paper of illegally obtaining drunk-driving records about her.

    But the paper, Meyer said, received this information about Newell from a separate source, independently verified it on the Kansas Department of Revenue’s Division of Vehicles website — and decided not to publish it. The paper instead opted to notify local police.

    Here’s their justification - they found out about a business owner’s drunk driving records, and told the police. The police decided this was “identity theft”.