[HN Gopher] A raid on a Kansas newspaper likely broke the law, e...
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       A raid on a Kansas newspaper likely broke the law, experts say. But
       which one?
        
       Author : goplayoutside
       Score  : 43 points
       Date   : 2023-08-20 21:28 UTC (1 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (abcnews.go.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (abcnews.go.com)
        
       | CSMastermind wrote:
       | To summarize the newspaper was engaged in questionable behavior
       | in their reporting. When reporting on a local restaurant they,
       | allegedly broke into the social media and other accounts of the
       | owner. Reminds me of the British scandal where the press were
       | breaking into people's voicemail inboxes.
       | 
       | Other businesses in the area say this is not the first time the
       | newspaper has done this.
       | 
       | The police executed a search warrant in conjunction with the
       | claims looking for evidence this is true.
       | 
       | The newspaper alleges the search warrant was really just an
       | excuse and what they were looking for was information about the
       | police chief who they were also reporting on.
       | 
       | Seems fairly straight forward?
       | 
       | Did the police seize only what was approved by the search
       | warrant? Did they misrepresent or fabricate any of the claims
       | needed to get that search warrant?
       | 
       | If they had legitimate grounds to get the search warrant and they
       | executed, it only to the extent allowed by law then they broke no
       | laws.
        
         | AnthonyMouse wrote:
         | This feels inherently suspicious.
         | 
         | Newspaper investigates local restaurant. Newspaper investigates
         | local police. Local police go to local restaurant owner. "Hey,
         | those reporters we both hate, they didn't happen to break some
         | _law_ did they? " Or the same thing, but initiated by the
         | restaurant owner bitter over the negative story.
         | 
         | Under normal circumstances alleging misconduct by reporters who
         | wrote a truthful negative story about you would have negligible
         | credibility, because you have an obvious motive to fabricate.
         | The police taking the allegations seriously solely because they
         | too hate the reporters is, of course, misconduct.
        
         | PLenz wrote:
         | The search warrant was itself illegal. Hiding behind it is not
         | a valid defense.
        
           | AnimalMuppet wrote:
           | Why do you say that the search warrant was illegal?
           | 
           | A search warrant of a newspaper is not inherently illegal.
           | 
           | On the other hand, if I understand correctly, the search
           | warrant was authorized (or at least the authorization was
           | filed) only three days _after_ the search. _Post hoc_
           | approval of search warrants is almost certainly not legal. If
           | that wasn 't a clerical mixup, then yes, the search warrant
           | was illegal. (I'm not going to get too bothered by an
           | approved search warrant that didn't get filed for three days
           | because a clerk messed up - _if_ that 's what happened.)
        
             | metabagel wrote:
             | According to the article, the state shield law says that
             | you can't execute a search warrant on a newspaper. It must
             | be a subpoena in order to prevent abuse of power against
             | the free press.
        
           | zdragnar wrote:
           | Allegedly, they weren't trying to uncover newspaper sources,
           | they were investigating identity theft. I'm not convinced
           | either state or federal law would have applied here, though
           | getting a court order beyond the warrant would have avoided
           | the controversy entirely.
           | 
           | Perhaps they were worried that the evidence would have been
           | deleted if they'd waited.
           | 
           | Or perhaps, they simply really were using it as a cover to
           | raid the office to destroy any info about the chief.
           | 
           | Hopefully time will tell.
        
             | WarOnPrivacy wrote:
             | > Allegedly, they weren't trying to uncover newspaper
             | sources, they were investigating identity theft.
             | 
             | The allegation of identity theft got them the warrant. That
             | allegation seems like a lie, when it's compared against the
             | event the cops were investigating.
             | 
             |  _Reporter Phyllis Zorn verified the tip by conducting a
             | driver's record search on the Department of Revenue's
             | website, using Newell's first and last name and the
             | driver's license number for Newell that the record had
             | received from its source. The results showed the tip about
             | Newell's record was accurate._
             | 
             | ref: https://www.kcur.org/news/2023-08-20/now-withdrawn-
             | affidavit...
        
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       (page generated 2023-08-20 23:00 UTC)