A weekly central Kansas newspaper and its publisher have filed a federal lawsuit over police raids last summer of its offices and the publisher’s home.

A weekly central Kansas newspaper and its publisher filed a federal lawsuit Monday over police raids last summer of its offices and the publisher’s home, accusing local officials of trying to silence the paper and causing the death of the publisher’s 98-year-old mother.

The lawsuit did not include a specific figure for potential damages. However, in a separate notice to local officials, the paper and its publisher said they believe they are due more than $10 million.

The lawsuit from the Marion County Record’s parent company and Eric Meyer, its editor and publisher, accuses the city of Marion, the Marion County Commission and five current and former local officials of violating free press rights and the right to be free from unreasonable law enforcement searches guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit also notified the defendants that Meyer and the newspaper plan to add other claims, including that officials wrongly caused the death of Meyer’s mother the day after the raids, which the lawsuit attributes to a stress-induced heart attack.

  • athos77@kbin.social
    28·
    8 months ago

    [ cont from previous comment]

    The Kansas Bureau of Intelligence, which was supposed to be investigating the incident, had repeatedly said they’re not investigating as much as it was originally said they were; I haven’t been able to find out if the initial reports of a robust investigation were exaggerated, or if they’re actually scaling back the investigation. It’s probably some combination of both. They supposedly handed off some part of it to the ?Colorado Bureau of Investigation, but that’s been pretty much radio silence since day one.

    The county has been resisting efforts to get evidence and is very likely destroying it. It’s questionable if the county’s insurance will pay out, given that procedures weren’t followed to get the warrant, and that the county currently appear to be obstructing justice and likely destroying evidence. Which means that the local taxpayers may be on the hook for the bill - and they’re certainly on the hook for paying all the lawyers to defend the lawsuit. Giveb that there are less than 12,000 people living in Marion County, it’s likely to be a financially difficult time there. The newspaper owner doesn’t want to bankrupt or damage the city or county, but too many people involved are getting off easy (some have apparently been eased out by being promoted, I don’t have details on that); and he’s afraid of the precedent it’ll set it he just lets it go, especially with the combined rise in both authoritarianism and hostility toward the press.

    [edit: repeated mentions of sheriff should read police chief. I noticed after I posted, and when I tried to search and replace, I went over the character limit. I can’t be arsed to move the text around, so everywhere it says sheriff, please know that I’m talking about the police chief.]