Law enforcement seized computers and other records from the Marion County Record on Friday, raising concerns about press freedom.
The raid unfolded in Marion, a town about 60 miles north of Wichita, and appears to have stemmed from a dispute between a local restaurant owner and her estranged husband in a divorce proceeding., had illegally obtained damaging information about a 2008 conviction for drunken driving and was preparing to publish it, leading a local judge to issue a warrant authorizing police to seize the newspaper’s files.
Police raids on news organizations are almost unknown in the United States and are illegal under most circumstances under state and federal law. “This shouldn’t happen in America,” said Emily Bradbury, the executive director of the Kansas Press Association, in an interview Sunday. She added: “Freedom of the press is fundamental to our democracy. … We’re not going to let this stand on our watch.”
Meyer, a former Milwaukee Journal reporter for 20 years and professor at the University of Illinois for 26, is the son of the Record’s late editor in chief, Bill Meyer. His family bought the paper in 1998.Newell, the restaurant owner, spoke at a public city council meeting last Monday in an effort to obtain approval for a liquor license for her catering business.
The newspaper said it verified the source’s claim that the information had come from a government database, but decided not to publish it out of concern that the source may have obtained the records through illicit means. The paper also notified the county sheriff and city police chief about the leak.
According to Meyer, Herbel, the councilwoman, alerted Marion’s city administrator about the alleged records breach, advising him that police should investigate.Tensions between the paper and Newell had flared a few days before the city council hearing when Newell hosted a campaign event for Rep. Jake LaTurner at Newell’s restaurant in Marion. At the time, Newell asked police to bar Meyer and another Record reporter from the event.
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