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Police raid of a Kansas newsroom raises alarms about violations of press freedom

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Re: Police raid of a Kansas newsroom raises alarms about violations of press freedom

#41

Post by bratgpttamer »

dmix wrote: post #31
bratgpttamer wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, the classic "doing crimes with a computer" (performing a query on the DMV website)

It sounds like more than just a public records search, someone sent them information about her DUI: > Newell said she believes the newspaper violated the law to get her personal information as it checked on the status of her driver’s license after a 2008 drunken driving conviction and other driving violations. > The newspaper countered that it received that information unsolicited, which it verified through public on…

I also read that the source who sent the information about Newell bragged about retaining "connections" in law enforcement, a hint that it might have been non-public information. There's also "dozens" of anonymous tips about the police chief's sexual harassment issues.

However, I'm not sure "verifying a rumor via public records" is what the various "using a computer to do crimes" laws are about, especially because my understanding of various public records and registry searches are precisely to allow the public to verify these kinds of rumors.

Reading between the lines, it seems that they were most interested in unmasking the identities of these anonymous sources and sending a message to the newspaper.

Re: Police raid of a Kansas newsroom raises alarms about violations of press freedom

#42

Post by LatteLazy »

As I understood it, the first amendment has been hedged to protect what papers can publish. But it does not protect how or where they get the information. The result is that courts and the police both can and will raid offices, seize materials etc. The only protections against this are (a) getting it published before you're raided and (b) whatever respect for the spirit of the constitution you can inspire in judges or maybe lawmakers to try and codify these things.

Is that wrong?

I am asking here about the actual interpretation of the law, not the "ideal world" scenario...

This is the best case I could find:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branzburg_v._Hayes

Re: Police raid of a Kansas newsroom raises alarms about violations of press freedom

#43

Post by mannykannot »

wishfish wrote: post #29

There's been some interesting updates to the story. The Marion Record was in the process of investigating the Marion police chief. He used to work for the Kansas City (MO) PD. Allegedly, he was demoted for "sexual misconduct" before he quit and came to work for Marion. This reveal comes in an interview of the Marion Record's publisher. It's an interesting read and he's an interesting guy. One of the old school report…

The KBI might now be wondering if the Marion police chief was being entirely forthcoming about what was going on when he sought their assistance.

Re: Police raid of a Kansas newsroom raises alarms about violations of press freedom

#44

Post by bratgpttamer »

flutas wrote: post #27
findalex wrote: post #11

Sounds like this restaurant owner has some friends high up on the force?

There's also the relationship between her and the county attorney. > County attorney Joel Ensey, whose brother owns the hotel where Newell operates her restaurant

It looks like Newell was using Tammy Ensey's liquor license, which is non-transferrable and expires later this month.

[1] https://peabodykansas.com/direct/restaurateur_accuses_paper_...

Re: Police raid of a Kansas newsroom raises alarms about violations of press freedom

#45

Post by afavour »

bilbo0s wrote: post #30
flutas wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That does give a veneer of legality to the raid. I would have agreed, if it hadn't been for the County Attorney (who according to their website is "the chief law enforcement officer in Marion County."[0]) putting his foot in his mouth, and the paper exposing the relationship between him and the restaurant owner. It makes it pretty clear what actually is going on here. > A Record reporter later requested a copy of t…

Slightly off topic, but how do you get to be a county attorney, and still be this oblivious to propriety? Did he believe nothing would come of this and it would all just go away? I honestly can't see how anyone with a law degree would have even touched this situation under the same circumstances. Journalists? Preexisting business relationships that are documented and freely available to the public. Jeez, at least hid…

> Did he believe nothing would come of this and it would all just go away?

My entirely unevidenced belief is that this happens _all the time_ and recent events are only notable because they didn't just go away. With local news in freefall if anything I imagine this is happening more and more.

Re: Police raid of a Kansas newsroom raises alarms about violations of press freedom

#46

Post by jjk166 »

For reference this is the form for requesting motor vehicle records in Kansas [0]

It asks for "your" information to find the record, but based on the allowed uses you can definitely get records for other people. I would say a journalist accessing DUI records would fall under permitted use case M. That accessing this is identity theft is a farcical claim.

[0] https://www.kansas.gov/ssrv-mvr-ltd/

Re: Police raid of a Kansas newsroom raises alarms about violations of press freedom

#47

Post by FrustratedMonky »

"Try That In A Small Town"

Need to explain reference.

There is a video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1_RKu-ESCY

It kind of glorifies small town justice/vigilantism. Like, the rest of the country is falling apart, but the small town wouldn't let that happen (wink, wink).

https://www.npr.org/2023/07/20/1188966935/jason-aldean-try-t...

But then the original post, story about small town sheriff raiding a newspaper kind of shows indications of small town corruption.

So the point is about the dichotomy of 'small towns' being pure and glorifying taking "American Justice" into their own hands, and also how they can corrupt those same values.

The original post is a counter story about how things can go wrong there too. You can have small town 'justice' also take the form of actions that go against American Values like freedom of speech.

Re: Police raid of a Kansas newsroom raises alarms about violations of press freedom

#48

Post by Kapura »

This is really, really upsetting to be happening in my country. I know it is a very big country, and Kansas isn't exactly proximate, but we are either a country that protects the press, or we are a country where the press protects those who have power. If this is allowed to pass without the people ordering the raid fired, I am not optimistic about what the future holds.

Re: Police raid of a Kansas newsroom raises alarms about violations of press freedom

#49

Post by thinkcontext »

On top of the judge signing off on the warrant when this likely contradicted federal law, we have this:

> When the newspaper asked for a copy of the probable cause affidavit required by law to issue a search warrant, the district court issued a signed statement saying no such affidavit was on file, the Record reported.

Not a lawyer and I know it takes quite a lot for a judge to be disciplined but that would seem to be something a judicial conduct board would want to look at.

https://apnews.com/article/marion-kansas-newspaper-raid-aca0...

Re: Police raid of a Kansas newsroom raises alarms about violations of press freedom

#50

Post by mkovach »

Seems to me this might be plain old intimidation. The folks involved, which includes the Police Chef, see that somebody is leaking information to the press and a trying very hard to find they leak(s). Since they can't figure out who, and the press isn't publishing anything they are cranking up the heat.

In both cases he says that they are investigating allegations. In fact, at one point it is said, they turned over information to the police because they thought it might be related to a civil matter (somebody's divorce). They don't feel they have enough information to make the allegations public.

Something never change but the semantics, police are trying to find the leak, IMHO.

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