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Police stage ‘chilling’ raid on Marion County newspaper
- IAmGraydon 3y ago[flagged]
- sethherr 3y agoBecause it’s interesting and relevant.
- juunpp 3y agoIf only it had "AI" or "Apple" in the title, right?
- jollofricepeas 3y agoArticles covering freedom of the press, concentration of media ownership and investigative journalism are pretty popular on HN and often make the front page. I feel that other than scientific or highly technical posts, the HN community interest in the press is one of the few things that still makes HN endearing.
- mikrl 3y agoComputers got seized. Intersects heavily with data security people who work on encryption, availability, digital privacy, civil rights, etc
- _delirium 3y agoFor me, the Steve Jackson Games case of the early 1990s [1,2], where police seized computers in a raid later determined to be illegal, was what got me into the whole EFF/FSF/Linux world of computing rights, and from there into Slashdot and HN and other related communities. My guess is that’s pretty common with people of a certain age! [1] http://www.sjgames.com/SS/ http://www.sjgames.com/SS/ [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jackson_Games,_Inc._v._United_States_Secret_Service https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jackson_Games,_Inc._v._U...
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- fasterik 3y agoI assume you're implying it doesn't belong on HN because it's not technical in nature? I just scanned the first 2 pages of HN and found these: A Woman Behind Borges The history and context of Aleksandr Afanasev’s obscene Russian folktales Study: Half of all people to get mental illness in their lifetime Feral desert donkeys are digging wells, giving water to parched wildlife
- r00fus 3y agoSo much that’s wrong - a magistrate issuing non-constitutional orders, a “search” warrant that allows cops to basically confiscate your servers… it’s dystopian and it’s here.
- porkbeer 3y agoThose over-broad warrants are increasingly the norm. Pay attention to the judges you vote in, they set the tone,
- darig 3y ago[dead]
- wyldfire 3y ago> The search warrant, signed by Marion County District Court Magistrate Judge Laura Viar, appears to violate federal law that provides protections against searching and seizing materials from journalists. Wow, unreal that she could approve such a warrant. Even in the absence of a federal statute it seems like a crazy step to take.
- ryandrake 3y agoNot that surprising. Small Town Things. I'm sure there are backwoods places in the USA where the owner of the used car dealership, the mayor, the judge, and police chief are all immediate family. A thing is only illegal if it's enforced.
- kolanos 3y agoMy local magistrate is a former cop who lacks even a paralegal degree.
- sramam 3y agoAs a first generation immigrant to the US, the parent story struck a deep (dis) chord. Your comment brought back memories of growing up in India. The idea of a "Panchayat" was taught in schools as both an ancient form of local/self governance and a modern answer to effective governance in post partition India. Even Gandhi promoted it as a pillar of India's self-rule. Basically, village "elders" land up passing judgement on disputes. Most of these people were "respected" but uneducated. Their world views were very narrow. As can be expected, it wasn't uncommon for their biases to result in "justice" that would be totally unacceptable when viewed through a broader lens. After decades in the US, to discover that something like this can happen in 21st century USA is really unsettling. I'm having trouble explaining (even to myself) the anguish I feel. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchayati_raj https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panchayati_raj
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- s1artibartfast 3y agoNot enough facts are available to really form an opinion here. At a minimum, we would need the warrants Journalists are not above all criminal investigation, so it heavily depends on the alleged crimes.
- op00to 3y agoAt a minimum, you could have read the article which had a copy of the warrant. Please, just read.
- s1artibartfast 3y agoThe article has the warrant severed, not the warrant request, which would include suspected crimes, evidence, and rationale. Searching journalists is completely legal depending on the reason
- op00to 3y agoThe sworn affidavit provided by the LEO to the judge justifying the warrant is never unsealed prior to the conclusion of a case.
- wtallis 3y agoWhat do you mean by "conclusion of a case"? Obviously a case cannot go to trial with evidence still sealed, and in at least some states the affidavit cannot remain under seal past the defendant's arraignment. Plus, affidavits are not always sealed in the first place—and the warrant that's been published in this case makes no mention of the supporting affidavit being under seal.
- lkjsdlkfjfd 3y agoHoly hell that judge needs to be disbarred.
- kolanos 3y agoIn many U.S. states (including Kansas) a magistrate doesn't need a law degree or to be a lawyer. [0] [0]: https://www.propublica.org/article/these-judges-can-have-less-training-than-barbers-but-still-decide-thousands-of-cases-each-year https://www.propublica.org/article/these-judges-can-have-les...
- lotsofpulp 3y agoI would prefer imprisoned for the blatant corruption.
- tpoacher 3y agoperhaps a petition is in order
- backendanon 3y agoAm I missing something? There's no [federal] shield law protecting journalists in the US. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shield_laws_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shield_laws_in_the_United_Stat... "There is no federal shield law and state shield laws vary in scope." https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1241/shield-laws https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1241/shield-law... "There is no federal shield law" Not even former or sitting presidents are protected.
- comte7092 3y agoDid you read the article?
- LegitShady 3y agoWhat if the article is wrong?
- comte7092 3y agoThat’s an interesting hypothetical. Wrong about what exactly? The thing is the article didn’t say anything about shield laws, which is what the comment I was responding to was talking about.
- s1artibartfast 3y agoThe fundamental premise. >The search warrant, signed by Marion County District Court Magistrate Judge Laura Viar, appears to violate federal law that provides protections against searching and seizing materials from journalists. The law requires law enforcement to subpoena materials instead. This isn't true. It is legal to search and seize journalists, if the journalist are suspected of committing a crime. Either the author doesn't know the law, or is being misleading, because the same article also says the local and state cops are investigating the local journalist.
- wtallis 3y ago
- renewiltord 3y agoI suppose you can try that in a small town. There's very little oversight.
- duxup 3y agoYou can “try” it anywhere. We will see what happens next.
- renewiltord 3y agoThis one got noticed, but they usually get away. Small towns rally around this sort of thing and preserve criminals very effectively. Small states are the same. Poor rule of law.
- GloomyBoots 3y agoNot a small town thing. There isn’t a town or city of any size in America that isn’t woefully deficient in rule of law. It’s just whatever artificial camp you get thrown into that decides which corruption you overlook.
- renewiltord 3y agoIs there a lot of suppression corruption in big cities? I was under the impression that it's mostly embezzlement and theft. San Francisco, for instance, is solidly in the hands of unbelievably corrupt people (one of the supervisors here, Peskin, pulled off a bunch of shady shit - which makes me think the others are too), but I was under the impression 1A stuff was safe. Still, I suppose there was all the stuff about Jeff Adachi and what the cops did to the journalists there, so I suppose your point is sound.
- duxup 3y agoNot sure I’ve heard of a raids on a newspaper quite like this in the US.
- wishfish 3y agoI'm not in Marion County but I am in the general vicinity. This is both surprising and unsurprising. And probably explains why my own county's newspaper sticks to stories about school board meetings and who had the winning hog at 4H. My county may be as corrupt as Marion, or it might be fine. All I can know is gossip and reading in between the lines of Facebook comments. There's no oversight beyond unverified hearsay. What the Marion County Record is doing is incredibly vital for their community. I just went to their web page. They currently don't have a fundraiser yet, but I hope they'll start one. http://marionrecord.com/ http://marionrecord.com/
- retrocryptid 3y agoYeah. I used to live up in Chieftan and thought of Ocala as "the big city" when it was just a Methodist Church and a stop sign. We also lived near Ft. Walton for a couple years. My dad referred to the local politicos as "The dumbest people I've ever met. Vindictive, too." (The real quote isn't suitable for mixed company, but that's a close approximation.) So... way to stay on brand, Florida.
- minton 3y agoPretty sure this is Kansas not Florida.
- retrocryptid 3y agoWhew. Florida has enough problems.
- gremlinsinc 3y agoThis being an "illegal" raid, and being "authorized" or "sanctioned" by a judge, SHE should be the one thrown in jail (or at least w/ the stiffest sentence) , it's her job to uphold the law. She should be held to the highest standard. It'll never happen probably, but it should.
- pushcx 3y agoAccording to the paper's recent reporting, a prominent local businessperson, Kari Newell, had been driving while her licence was suspended for drunk driving, with the knowledge of local police. http://marionrecord.com/dispatch/police_raid_newspaper_office_homes_seizing_computers_and_phones+5447raid+506f6c6963652072616964206e6577737061706572206f66666963652c20686f6d65732c207365697a696e6720636f6d70757465727320616e642070686f6e6573 http://marionrecord.com/dispatch/police_raid_newspaper_offic... Previously she had accused the newspaper of obtaining the information illegally. http://marionrecord.com/dispatch/restaurateur_accuses_paper_councilwoman+5447newell+52657374617572617465757220616363757365732070617065722c20636f756e63696c776f6d616e http://marionrecord.com/dispatch/restaurateur_accuses_paper_... There's also a headline from their last week's issue, "Media ejected from open forum" that seems likely to be related. Google's cache of the article is at: https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http%3A%2F%2Fstarj.com%2Fdirect%2Fmedia_ejected_at_open_forum_%2B5446forum%2B4d6564696120656a6563746564206174206f70656e20666f72756d20 https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http%3... so I'll give a relevant quote for when that expires: > Two representatives of the news media were ordered by Marion police chief Gideon Cody to leave a public reception Tuesday for U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner. > Cody’s directions came at the behest of Kari Newell, proprietor of Chef’s Plate in Marion’s Historic Elgin Hotel and its coffee shop across the street, Kari’s Kitchen, where the event was taking place. > Cody said that Newell asked that Record publisher Eric Meyer and Record reporter Phyllis Zorn be evicted before LaTurner arrived. > Moments before Cody ordered Meyer and Zorn to leave, Newell had told Zorn: “I will not have members of the media in my establishment. You have to leave.”
- scns 3y ago> Kari Newell, proprietor of Chef’s Plate in Marion’s Historic Elgin Hotel and its coffee shop across the street, Kari’s Kitchen, where the event was taking place. The person owning the Doughnuts, owns the Police. /s
- gremlinsinc 3y agoIf it wasn't public before about her driving with a suspended license, it is now. Barbara Streisand effect hits again. It's probably reaching a much larger audience too, than it ever would have without this stunt.
- brigandish 3y ago> The city’s entire five-officer police force and two sheriff’s deputies took “everything we have,” Meyer said, and it wasn’t clear how the newspaper staff would take the weekly publication to press Tuesday night. Two things occur to me about this story, exposed in this quote, that I often think when seeing stories of this nature: 1. Many businesses that rely on computers don't have a disaster recovery plan, and thus, can't spin up again for a while, sometimes at all. 2. Good security (i.e. enough to frustrate aggressive criminal gangs, like the police) is often not in place, for a number of understandable reasons, but they also tend to include less understandable ones (as in (1)). People like our good selves, the readers of HN, might think about how we can offer our services a bit more widely to help some of the smaller fish out there stand up to bullying and attacks.
- batch12 3y agoThis actually gave me an idea for a service, thanks for the call to action-
- Arainach 3y agoNote that if you advertise a service like this you will almost certainly face charges of obstructing justice. I'm not qualified to say if you could defend against them but your legal bills would be potentially infinite.
- batch12 3y agoA small business disaster recovery service? I don't think so-
- amoshi 3y agoWouldn't the Disaster Recovery/backup equipment also be confiscated by the police?
- shawncampbell 3y agoThe 1 in 3-2-1 would ensure you have a copy offsite as well. https://www.uschamber.com/co/run/technology/3-2-1-backup-rule https://www.uschamber.com/co/run/technology/3-2-1-backup-rul...
- retrocryptid 3y agoSi tacuisses, philosophus mansisses. Lord, what fools these morons be.
- ranprieur 3y agoThe red states are going third world.
- 6510 3y agoIt seems fascinating for a judge to order the confiscation of legal notices. From what I understand (witch isn't much) the whole point is to have it published by a 3rd party independent of government or its trustees
- marion-brother 3y agoMy sibling lives in Marion county KS. As always, there's two sides to the story. Apparently the Marion County paper blatantly omits and twists facts and has shut down several businesses in Marion by posting stories about the owner's personal lives. My sibling says false reporting is rampant and is often damaging to the community. Doesn't affect the legality of this raid, of course. Throwaway to protect my sibling's identity (very very small town).
- wtallis 3y ago> As always, there's two sides to the story. > Doesn't affect the legality of this raid, of course. Do you see how the second statement undermines the first? "Yeah, but some people don't like the paper" isn't really an opposing side to the story, just sour grapes.
- marion-brother 3y agoI would say there's likely more than one issue at play, not that one issue undermines another. The raid might be legal or illegal. The people running the paper might be behaving unethically/illegally or ethically/legally. And if the people running the paper are committing crimes, that IS relevant to the legality of the raid. Not just sour grapes. And perhaps those of us that live nearby have more information and perspective than random commenters on HN? Can't you see how a article that waxes poetic about freedom of the press and ignores potential illegal/immoral behavior of the specific reporters might result in internet outrage that doesn't address the scope of the community's issues?
- subsection1h 3y agoIf you actually have more information, especially empirical evidence supporting your assertions, please post it. Your assertion -- that "the Marion County paper blatantly omits and twists facts and has shut down several businesses in Marion by posting stories about the owner's personal lives" -- warrants substantiating evidence. Where is it? You provided none. Instead, you wrote, "And perhaps those of us that live nearby have more information and perspective than random commenters on HN?" That statement is nearly an appeal to authority, like a cable news-watching boomer saying, "Trust me, kid, I know what I'm talking about."
- dumdum66 3y ago[flagged]
- dumdum66 3y ago[flagged]
- dumdum66 3y ago[flagged]
- wishfish 3y agoI'm sure not many are still reading the comments on this post, but for those few who are left, here's the statement from the Marion Police. Says nothing and says everything: The Marion Kansas Police Department has has several inquiries regarding an ongoing investigation. As much as I would like to give everyone details on a criminal investigation I cannot. I believe when the rest of the story is available to the public, the judicial system that is being questioned will be vindicated. I appreciate all the assistance from all the State and Local investigators along with the entire judicial process thus far. Speaking in generalities, the federal Privacy Protection Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000aa-2000aa-12, does protect journalists from most searches of newsrooms by federal and state law enforcement officials. It is true that in most cases, it 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. The Act requires criminal investigators to get a subpoena instead of a search warrant when seeking “work product materials” and “documentary materials” from the press, except in circumstances, including: (1) when there is reason to believe the journalist is taking part in the underlying wrongdoing. The Marion Kansas Police Department believes it is the fundamental duty of the police is to ensure the safety, security, and well-being of all members of the public. This commitment must remain steadfast and unbiased, unaffected by political or media influences, in order to uphold the principles of justice, equal protection, and the rule of law for everyone in the community. The victim asks that we do all the law allows to ensure justice is served. The Marion Kansas Police Department will nothing less. https://www.facebook.com/marionpoliceks/posts/pfbid0cch8ULTSu9wrKHhZMFmQLMRPGFTUBttBbdiEJQojNmTBukgZEnPdMa2EsZ8FY9RVl https://www.facebook.com/marionpoliceks/posts/pfbid0cch8ULTS...