Kansas police raid shows the vulnerability of the free press
The police raid of a small-town weekly newspaper in the Midwest — an indefensible and probably illegal assault on the free press — sparked global condemnation, as it should. The authoritarian operation underscored why fearless local journalism remains foundational to open government and a healthy democracy.
Police in Marion, Kansas, seized computers, cellphones and other materials at the Marion County Record’s office and the owner-publisher’s home. The raid so disturbed the newspaper’s 98-year-old matriarch, Joan Meyer, that it likely contributed to her death the next day.
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Media companies and press organizations swiftly denounced the raid. Folks from Poughkeepsie to Seattle showed support for the Record by buying newspaper subscriptions. The Marion paper, like most outposts of the local free press these days, needs all the help it can get.
The search warrant indicated authorities were looking for evidence of possible identity theft and “unlawful acts concerning computers.” However, as The Associated Press reported, “Newspaper publisher and co-owner Eric Meyer said he believes the newspaper’s dogged coverage of local politics and Police Chief Gideon Cody’s record are the main reason for the raids.” The paper had just published a story about a restaurateur who, at a City Council meeting, wrongly accused the Record of illegally obtaining information about her previous drunken-driving incident.
Unlike the police, the newspaper had acted cautiously, verifying that information provided by a source but deciding not to publish it. Nor did the Record publish stories about Cody’s previous employment record in the Kansas City police department. The newspaper investigated tips from a half-dozen or so anonymous sources but couldn’t verify inflammatory claims.
The Police Department’s thuggish approach, abetted by the judge who signed the search warrant, shows why the Bill of Rights was needed to protect citizens from governmental abuse. The Founders enshrined freedom of the press among the five freedoms in the First Amendment. Congress in 1980 added the Privacy Protection Act that, with limited exceptions, bars authorities from searching for or seizing material from journalists. Kansas, Washington and other states have added their own protections.
The press inconveniences many in power, especially those who insist they are entitled to operate without the public looking over their shoulders.
The county prosecutor withdrew the search warrant and seized materials were being returned Wednesday, but that doesn’t resolve this ugly incident.
A state investigation that’s underway must be uncompromising, and local officials who authorized and conducted this raid must be held accountable.
— The Seattle Times
