On Friday, August 11th, local law enforcement in Marion, Kansas, raided the Marion County Record—a newspaper there—and the publisher’s home. The police seized the newspaper’s computers, cellphones, and the publisher’s home computer and internet router. The police raid has been covered internationally. The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable search and seizure and the Kansas Justice Institute Litigation Director, Sam MacRoberts, says the Marion County raid was unreasonable. He says the only way the police can prove justification is to allow the public to read the affidavit submitted to the judge and ask the questions…what was the legal basis and what was the probable cause. He says they should be released immediately for review. He says the fact that the police raided a newsroom, highlights the need for government transparency and accountability in the search warrant process.
The Kansas Justice Institute is a free law firm dedicated to fighting against government overreach. They were also involved in a 4th Amendment lawsuit involving a local health order in Linn County and more recently filed suit against the city of Ottawa in regard to a woman being denied having beehives in her backyard and selling the honey they produce.
