A judge told Kansas authorities to destroy electronic copies of newspaper's files taken during raid
CTV
Kansas authorities must destroy all electronic copies they made of a small newspaper's files when police raided its office this month, a judge ordered Tuesday, nearly two weeks after computers and cellphones seized in the search were returned.
Kansas authorities must destroy all electronic copies they made of a small newspaper's files when police raided its office this month, a judge ordered Tuesday, nearly two weeks after computers and cellphones seized in the search were returned.
The Aug. 11 searches of the Marion County Record's office and the homes of its publisher and a City Council member have been sharply criticized, putting Marion, a central Kansas town of about 1,900 people, at the center of a debate over the press protections offered by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Attorney Bernie Rhodes, who represents the newspaper, said a judge ordered authorities to hand over those electronic records and destroy any copies they have of them along with all photographs that officers took during the raids.
The local prosecutor and sheriff agreed investigators shouldn't keep that evidence, but Rhodes insisted on a court order to document it. It won't be clear what files were on the drive until Rhodes gets a copy.
Authorities returned the computers and cellphones they took during the raids after the prosecutor decided there was insufficient evidence to justify their seizure. A few days later the newspaper learned from court documents about the thumb drive with an electronic copy of thousands of files taken from its computers. It wasn't disclosed in the initial search warrant inventory.
It's not clear what additional steps authorities might take. Neither city officials nor the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, which is looking into reporters' actions, are saying much.
City Council members refused to discuss the raids at their meeting last week, and the mayor didn't answer text message questions Tuesday about whether the raids will be on the next agenda. A spokeswoman for the KBI said it's impossible to predict how long that agency's investigation will take.
