Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Why it matters: Allowing egregious law enforcement searches of newspapers strikes at the heart of First Amendment freedoms.

The attack on a small-town Kansas newspaper by law enforcement wielding a search warrant should be of concern to Americans who value an independent press and press freedom.

Marion, Kansas, Police raided the offices of the Marion County Record and the home of its publisher last Friday claiming it was seeking information on identity theft and other computer crimes. Officials took computers, files and even cellphones from employees in the search that lasted about 90 minutes.

After owner and publisher Eric Meyer’s home was searched, his 98-year-old mother and co-owner died, according to Meyer, due to the stress she endured from the search. “She was beside herself,” Meyer told CNHI News.

The incident was a violation of First Amendment freedoms to gather news without government interference or intimidation. The procedures for filing the search warrant were flawed and the reasons were suspect and seem to revolve around a local business person who had a grudge against the newspaper.

The business owner, Kari Newell, had earlier thrown out Meyer and a reporter from her restaurant as it hosted a talk by a Republican congressman. She accused the newspaper of obtaining information about her getting a DUI. While the newspaper never published the story from the information it received, it did quote Newell at the City Council meeting admitting she got the DUI.

Law enforcement officials were vague about the crimes they were investigating and did not provide the affidavit required for search warrants that specifically lays out suspected crimes. Kansas state law enforcement said they were investigating whether the newspaper obtained information illegally and used it against a local business owner. Federal law only allows search warrants on news organizations if they suspect an individual committed a crime.

Lawyers for Meyer and the newspaper say the search was illegal and in violation of First Amendment press freedoms. They also filed an action to stop law enforcement for looking at information on the computer and phones as it might include names of confidential sources.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and 30 journalism organizations have condemned the police raid in a letter to the police, and the Society of Professional Journalists has already donated $20,000 to the newspaper’s legal fund.

The Privacy Protection Act of 1980 generally doesn’t allow searches on demand of reporters or newsrooms but rather calls for authorities to obtain a subpoena for specific information which a newspaper can challenge in a court hearing. The act only allows knock-and-enter searches if authorities believe a reporter has committed a crime, there is danger of loss of life or great bodily harm or there is danger material will be destroyed.

Clearly, Meyer and the Record would be protected by this federal statute, as none of the criteria apply.

Freedom of the press is one of the key pillars of democracy and American self-government. The illegal and unethical search of a newsroom is a dangerous step toward authoritarianism and should be condemned on every front.

— Mankato Free Press, Aug. 16