Posted on Aug 14, 2023
A police raid of a Kansas newsroom raises alarms about violations of press freedom
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https://www.npr.org/2023/08/14/ [login to see] /newspaper-marion-county-kansas-police-raid-first-amendment
Law enforcement officers in Kansas raided the office of a local newspaper and a journalist's home on Friday, prompting outrage over what First Amendment experts are calling a likely 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. Officers confiscated computers, cellphones, reporting materials and other items essential to the weekly paper's operations.
"It took them several hours," Eric Meyer, the Marion County Record's co-owner and publisher, told NPR. "They forbid our staff to come into the newspaper office during that time."
Law enforcement officers in Kansas raided the office of a local newspaper and a journalist's home on Friday, prompting outrage over what First Amendment experts are calling a likely 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. Officers confiscated computers, cellphones, reporting materials and other items essential to the weekly paper's operations.
"It took them several hours," Eric Meyer, the Marion County Record's co-owner and publisher, told NPR. "They forbid our staff to come into the newspaper office during that time."
A police raid of a Kansas newsroom raises alarms about violations of press freedom
Posted from npr.org
Police
Law Enforcement
Journalism
1st Amendment
Posted >1 y ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel good day Brother William, always informational and of the most interesting. Thanks for sharing, have a blessed day!
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Agree - this is very outside the norm and definitely smells.
On the other side they had a valid search warrant that had convinced a judge that they provided enough proof that one of the journalists (or employees in the newsroom) had actually committed a crime*.
Just my guess, but in the article, the newspaper says that it "received this information about Newell from a separate source, independently verified it on the Kansas Department of Revenue's Division of Vehicles website..."
Specific to getting the information, the DRDV states "Under the Drivers' Privacy Protection Act of 1994, as amended (DPPA) (18 U.S.C. § 2721), personal information obtained by the Kansas Department of Revenue cannot be released unless the request for information falls within one of the exceptions within the Act. It is unlawful for personal information to be used for any purpose not permitted under the DPPA. Furthermore, it is unlawful for any person to make false representation in order to obtain personal information from DMV records."
Again, just my suspicion, but if you give a favorable view of the newspaper's actions, it appears they at least did "a wrong thing for the right reasons" (they were verifying that the information they received was accurate) as a law was broken when the reporter/researcher/etc. accessed the records.
But the taking of everything does sound like the "sledgehammer vs fly" situation. Considering the potential conflict with the Privacy Protection Act of 1980, I would figure a more surgical approach would be warranted (no pun intended).
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* https://kansasreflector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/SearchWarrant2.jpg
On the other side they had a valid search warrant that had convinced a judge that they provided enough proof that one of the journalists (or employees in the newsroom) had actually committed a crime*.
Just my guess, but in the article, the newspaper says that it "received this information about Newell from a separate source, independently verified it on the Kansas Department of Revenue's Division of Vehicles website..."
Specific to getting the information, the DRDV states "Under the Drivers' Privacy Protection Act of 1994, as amended (DPPA) (18 U.S.C. § 2721), personal information obtained by the Kansas Department of Revenue cannot be released unless the request for information falls within one of the exceptions within the Act. It is unlawful for personal information to be used for any purpose not permitted under the DPPA. Furthermore, it is unlawful for any person to make false representation in order to obtain personal information from DMV records."
Again, just my suspicion, but if you give a favorable view of the newspaper's actions, it appears they at least did "a wrong thing for the right reasons" (they were verifying that the information they received was accurate) as a law was broken when the reporter/researcher/etc. accessed the records.
But the taking of everything does sound like the "sledgehammer vs fly" situation. Considering the potential conflict with the Privacy Protection Act of 1980, I would figure a more surgical approach would be warranted (no pun intended).
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* https://kansasreflector.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/SearchWarrant2.jpg
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