A central Kansas police force comes under constitutional criticism after raiding a newspaper
A central Kansas police force comes under constitutional criticism after raiding a newspaper
A small central Kansas police department is facing a torrent of criticism after it raided the offices of a local newspaper and the home of its publisher and owner.
Several press freedom watchdogs condemned the Marion Police Department’s actions as a blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution’s protection for a free press. The Marion County Record’s editor and publisher, Eric Meyer, worked with his staff Sunday to reconstruct stories, ads and other materials for its next edition Wednesday, even as he took time in the afternoon to provide a local funeral home with information about his mother, Joan, the paper’s co-owner.
A search warrant tied Friday morning raids, led by Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody, to a dispute between the newspaper and a local restaurant owner, Kari Newell. She is accusing the newspaper of invading her privacy and illegally accessing information about her and her driving record and suggested that the newspaper targeted her after she threw Meyer and a reporter out of restaurant during a political event.
Imagine being a cop raiding the home of a 98 year old woman as she sits there crying and thinking, "I'm doing a good job. This is the right thing to do." Then after she dies later that day from the shock of what you just did, you think to yourself, "well, that's what she gets for being a liberal."
Imagine being a cop raiding the home of a 98 year old woman as she sits there crying and thinking, “I’m doing a good job. This is the right thing to do.”
Not even surprising anymore.
County Attorney Joel Ensby, whose brother owns the hotel where Newell operates her restaurant, was asked for [the probable cause affidavit] but said he would not release it because it was "not a public document". Source
So, if I'm following correctly, the Police Chief left his last job because of multiple sexual assault allegations, which was being looked into by the Record. And the owner of the restaurant (which only opened back in January] was trying to hide her DUI and illegal driving and was being investigated by the Record. And the County Attorney's brother owns the hotel and probably wants the restaurant to succeed to increase his profits. At this point. I think we're just missing the motive for the judge to have signed off on the search warrant ...
Lawsuits are going to fly over this, not the least against the cops ... deservedly so.
As well they should, but nothing will change until Qualified Immunity gets re-examined, and cops that engage in criminal activity while wearing a badge are actually treated like criminals instead of being shielded from consequences by the police union and precinct transfers.
and it's gonna take a Constitutional crime like this, by a cop who has already had crimes swept under the rug while he was captain of the KCPD, to change things
... and payouts by the city for lawsuits.
The hell taxpayers should be on the hook for the idjits.