Law enforcement officers in Kansas raided the office of a local newspaper and a journalist’s home, prompting outrage over what First Amendment experts are calling a serious 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 despite a prohibition on such incusions on First Amendment protected publications and a raft of apparent ethical conflicts involving the complaintant, the police and the county prosecutor.
Officers confiscated computers, cell phones, reporting materials, and other items essential to the weekly paper’s operations.
“It took them several hours. They forbid our staff to come into the newspaper office during that time,” said Eric Meyer, the Marion County Record’s co-owner and publisher, who claimed that stress from the invasive police action led to the death of his 98-year-old mother. “They forbid our staff to come into the newspaper office during that time.”
Local authorities said they were investigating the newsroom for “identity theft,” according to the warrant. The raid was linked to alleged violations of a local restaurant owner’s privacy, when journalists obtained information about her driving record.
Dozens of news organizations condemned a police raid on a Kansas newspaper and its publisher’s home, some calling for a federal investigation, others urging legal actions to enforce civil rights laws, and yet more demanding that authorities immediately return all seized materials.
A four-page letter, sent by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press to Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody, was signed by 34 news and press freedom organizations, including CNN, The Associated Press, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and others.
“Newsroom searches and seizures are among the most intrusive actions law enforcement can take with respect to the free press, and the most potentially suppressive of free speech by the press and the public,” the letter said.
Newsroom raids are rare in the United States, said Lynn Oberlander, a First Amendment attorney, who explained, “It’s very rare because it’s illegal. It doesn’t happen very often because most organizations understand that it’s illegal.”
Several media law experts say the raid appears to be a violation of federal law, which protects journalists from this type of action. The Privacy Protection Act of 1980 broadly prohibits law enforcement officials from searching for or seizing information from reporters.
Oberlander said exceptions to the Privacy Protection Act are “important but very limited.”
One such exception allows authorities to raid a newsroom if the journalists themselves are suspected to be involved in the crime at hand. In a statement sent to NPR, Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody cited this exception to justify his department’s raid of the Marion County Record. “It is true that in most cases, [the Privacy Protection Act] requires police to use subpoenas, rather than search warrants, to search the premises of journalists unless they themselves are suspects in the offense that is the subject of the search,” Cody said.
But Oberlander said that exception doesn’t apply when the alleged crime is connected to newsgathering — which appears to be the case in Marion.
“It raises concern for me,” Oberlander said. “It normalizes something that shouldn’t be happening — that Congress has said should not happen, that the First Amendment says should not happen.”
“It’s an abuse of power by the police and it’s a serious dereliction of duty by the judge who signed off on it,” White said.
NJ Today Publisher Lisa McCormick said, “Marion County District Court Magistrate Judge Laura Viar, who signed the illegal search warrant, Police Chief Gideon Cody, the city’s entire five-officer police force, and both sheriff’s deputies who participated in the illegal raid belong in jail.”
McCormick called on Kansas U.S. Attorney Kate E. Brubacher and other officials to take action in the case, raising questions about the involvement of a Republican congressman and a politically active local bar owner who has a criminal history.
Meyer, the Marion County Record‘s publisher, said local restaurateur Kari Newell accused the paper of illegally obtaining drunk-driving records about her. AS one publication put it, “Cops raided a smalltown newspaper so no-one would ever find out about police chief Gideon Cody’s alleged sexual misconduct or Kari Newell’s DUI conviction.”
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.
The search warrant, as published by the Kansas Reflector and verified by the police chief, specifically allowed officers to confiscate documents and records pertaining to “the identity theft of Kari Newell.” The warrant also ties the search to “unlawful acts concerning computers” that were used to access the Kansas Department of Revenue records website.
There is no evidence that anyone from the publication ever attempted to steal Newell’s identity.
Jeff Kosseff, a law professor at the United States Naval Academy who specializes in the First Amendment, said he was surprised the county judge found there was sufficient probable cause to sign off on the search warrant. Kosseff said there would need to be “a whole lot more for this to be a correct decision.”
“I can’t imagine a scenario in which all of these other protections would be overcome to allow a raid on a newsroom,” Kosseff said, referencing the First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment and the Privacy Protection Act. “This raid has been more than just potentially compromising sources. This has threatened the ability of the newsroom to operate altogether — and that’s why we have these protections.”
McCormick said the police department’s Facebook page included a photo that suggests the law enforcement agency illegally used taxpayer’s resources to support Republican Congressman Jake LaTurner, who held a campaign event at Kari Newell’s restaurant, Kari’s Kitchen.
Marion County Record owner Eric Meyer said he and his reporter Phyllis Zorn were told to leave the August 2 public forum by Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody at the request of restaurant owner Kari Newell.
The same day, a reporter received a Facebook message from a source alleging Newell was driving without a license and had a prior DUI conviction. The paper looked into these claims due to an upcoming vote on Newell garnering a liquor license.
Kansas law states you can’t have a felony DUI conviction to obtain a liquor license because the licensee must also have a valid state driver’s license.
The newspaper then received a tip about Newell having her driver’s license suspended in 2008 after a DUI, checked it out, decided not to publish it, and ultimately shared it with the local police because they believed it might’ve been shared with them as part of Newell’s ongoing divorce battle.
The police then told Newell what the newspaper shared, and she attended Monday’s City Council meeting to make outrageous false claims about the newspaper and one of the council members (who had also obtained the letter) violating her rights.
She also called Meyer later that evening and erroneously accused him of identity theft.
Not even four days later, police arrived at the newspaper office, Meyer’s home and the council member’s home with search warrants illegally signed by a judge, who also had also been faced with multiple drunk driving charges.
The newspaper had also been investigating Gideon Cody, Chief of Police for the city of Marion because reporters received multiple tips alleging he’d retired from his previous job to avoid demotion and punishment over alleged sexual misconduct charges.
Meyer also revealed that the outlet has plans to file a federal lawsuit against the City of Marion and those involved in the search.
Ken White, a First Amendment litigator, said police raids of newsrooms used to be more common in the U.S., which led Congress to bolster federal protections against such searches.
White said the police raid of the Marion County Record could also be a violation of the Fourth Amendment, which protects people from “unreasonable” searches and seizures by the government.
The search warrant in Marion, signed by county magistrate judge Laura Viar on Friday morning, allowed officers to confiscate a wide range of items, from computers and hardware to reporting documents.
Kansas Bureau of Investigations Communications Director Melissa Underwood confirmed it’s involved in the investigation.
“The Marion Police Department and the Marion County Attorney asked the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) to join an investigation into allegations of illegal access and dissemination of confidential criminal justice information. The KBI assigned an agent to this case last Tuesday, and has been assisting since that time. The KBI agent did not apply for the search warrants in question, and he was not present when the warrants were served,” said Underwood. “Director Mattivi believes very strongly that freedom of the press is a vanguard of American democracy. Without free speech and a free press, our society is not likely to see appropriate accountability of public officials. But another principle of our free society is equal application of the law. The KBI is entrusted to investigate credible allegations of illegal activity without fear or favor. In order to investigate and gather facts, the KBI commonly executes search warrants on police departments, sheriff’s offices, and at city, county and state offices. We have investigated those who work at schools, churches and at all levels of public service. No one is above the law, whether a public official or a representative of the media.”
The Marion County District Attorney rescinded the search warrant after a national firestorm erupted over the case. It turns out that Newell operates another restaurant in a building owned by the D.A.’s sister-in-law, who currently holds the liquor license that Newell uses there and wants to buy.