Part of the debate centers around Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody’s reasons for the raid.
A warrant suggested that police were looking for evidence that the Record’s staff broke state laws against identity theft and computer crimes while verifying information about a local restaurant owner. But the police also seized the computer tower and personal cellphone belonging to a reporter who had investigated Cody’s background.
Stephen McAllister, a U.S. attorney for Kansas during former President Donald Trump’s administration, said the raid opened Cody, the city and others to lawsuits for alleged civil right violations. And, he added, “We also have some exposure to federal criminal prosecution.” Police seized computers, personal cellphones and a router from the newspaper. All items were released Wednesday to a computer forensics auditing firm hired by the newspaper’s attorney, after the local prosecutor concluded there wasn’t enough evidence to justify their seizure. The firm is examining whether files were accessed or copied.
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.
| See the Kansas weekly that’s standing up for press freedomA photographer of small-town Kansas newspaper offices remembers his visit to Marion County.
Read more »
Marion County Record publisher and reporter on police raid and its aftermathThe incident prompted a fierce discussion on first amendment rights.
Read more »
Kansas City Superfan 'ChiefsAholic' charged with stealing almost $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.
Read more »
Kansas City Superfan 'ChiefsAholic' charged with stealing almost $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
Read more »
Kansas City Superfan 'ChiefsAholic' charged with stealing almost $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 ...
Read more »
Items Seized in Raid of Kansas Newspaper to Be Returned, County Official SaysAn independent inquiry of city and county law enforcement's actions remains open, state investigators said.
Read more »