EDITORIAL: Bullies cannot be allowed to win
Aug. 19—The headline in big letters across the top of the Marion County Record on Wednesday read "SEIZED ... but not silenced".
Why should someone living more than 700 miles away care what happens to a newspaper in Marion, Kansas? Because that newspaper represents principles that should matter to all Americans.
The newspaper was raided Aug. 11 by members of the Marion Police Department. Officers confiscated computers and cell phones belonging to staff members. They also raided the home of Record publisher Eric Meyer, co-owner of the newspaper, along with his 98-year-old mother Joan, who died the next day. Meyer blamed his mother's death on the stress of the raids.
The raids were prompted by coverage of local politics, according to Meyer, and the fact the newspaper was investigating the record of newly hired police Chief Gideon Cody.
In addition, local restaurant owner Kari Newell said the paper had targeted her after she ordered Meyer and a Record reporter out of her business during a recent political event. Newell, who is named on the police search warrant, accused the paper of invading her privacy by obtaining copies of her driving record while investigating a tip regarding her 2008 conviction for drunken driving.
The search warrant also states the newspaper was suspected of identity theft and "unlawful acts concerning computers," according to The Associated Press.
But this was a case of a newspaper staff doing its job, which is to investigate and report, despite the concerns of local politicians.
"You cannot let bullies win," Meyer said.
Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey, following his review of the police seizures, said Wednesday he submitted a proposed order asking the court to release all "evidence" taken from newspaper staff.
This goes beyond bullies. This was a blatant attack on the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The words of the First Amendment are so important to us they can be found printed daily on the Opinion page of the Kokomo Tribune and on the first page of its website.
"Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press. ..."
While stories and photos printed on newspaper pages might change, those words remain constant. Freedom of the press is a cornerstone of democracy, and members of the press working to inform the community should never be muted by the government.
To get their next edition out after the raid, Marion County Record staffers used an old computer that police did not confiscate to reassemble the ads scheduled for that day's newspaper. Reporters took turns using that same computer to write their stories.
The staff worked until 5 a.m. on that edition, continuing their role of keeping readers informed.
Yes, this newspaper's tools were seized by an overzealous police force in a raid that Seth Stern, advocacy director for the Freedom of the Press Foundation, said violated "federal law, the First Amendment and basic human decency."
This small newspaper staff, though, refused to be silenced. And that's something every American should applaud.
