A central Kansas police chief was not only on legally shaky ground when he ordered the raid of a weekly newspaper, experts said, but it may have been a criminal violation of civil rights, a former federal prosecutor added, saying: “I'd probably have the FBI starting to look.”
Some legal experts believe the Aug. 11 raid on the Marion County Record's offices and the home of its publisher violated a federal privacy law that protects journalists from having their newsrooms searched. Some believe it violated a Kansas law that makes it more difficult to force reporters and editors to disclose their sources or unpublished material.
The investigation into whether the newspaper broke state laws continues, now led by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. State Attorney General Kris Kobach has said he doesn't see the KBI's role as investigating the police's conduct, and that prompted some to question whether the federal government would get involved. Spokespersons for the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice declined to comment.
Cody did not respond to an email seeking comment Friday, as he has not responded to other emails. But he did defend the raid in a Facebook post afterward, saying the federal law shielding journalists from newsroom searches makes an exception specifically for “when there is reason to believe the journalist is taking part in the underlying wrongdoing.”
But the raids did have some backers in town. Jared Smith blames the newspaper's coverage for the demise of his wife's day spa business and believes the newspaper is too negative.And Kari Newell, whose allegations that the newspaper violated her privacy have been cited as reasons for the raid, said of the paper, "They do twist and contort — misquote individuals in our community — all the time.
Days before Cody was sworn in as chief on May 30, Meyer said that he asked Cody directly about the tips he received and Cody told him: "If you print that, I will sue you.” Former Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, a Republican who helped write the shield law as a state senator, said the law doesn't contemplate law enforcement using a search warrant to get information without going to court to get a subpoena. Still, he said, “The spirit of the law is that it should be broadly applied.”
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Kansas State U Racially-Discriminatory “Multicultural” Scholarship Challenged By Equal Protection ProjectApplicants for Joey Lee Garmon Multicultural Scholarship “must be of an ethnic group that has been historically and traditionally oppressed in the achievement of academic and leadership endeavors,” with special preference given to “applicants of African American, American Indian, Asian American, and Latinx American heritage”
Read more »
kansas city chiefs philadelphia eaglesPreviews, Game Summary, Boxscore and Highlights
Read more »
Kansas City superfan 'ChiefsAholic' charged with stealing almost US$700,000 in bank heistsA Kansas City Chiefs superfan known as 'ChiefsAholic' and familiar for attending games dressed as a wolf in the NFL team's gear has been indicted by a federal grand jury that accuses him of armed robbery and money laundering in a string of bank heists across four states that netted him almost US$700,000.
Read more »
Citibank subpoenaed over US House probe into alleged data sharing with FBIWASHINGTON (Reuters) - Banking group Citibank was subpoenaed on Thursday by Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Chair Jim ...
Read more »
Powell to Speak Aug. 25 at Jackson Hole Economic SymposiumFederal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will speak next Friday at the Kansas City Fed’s Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium, the US central bank said.
Read more »