On Friday, police officers in Marion, Kansas, raided the offices of its local newspaper, the Marion County Record, along with the home of Eric Meyer, the paper's publisher.
During the raid, officers took computer hard drives, the personal cell phones of reporters and any correspondence or records related to a local restaurant owner, who had been feuding with the newspaper. The story has gained national attention as legal experts argue that this was a violation of First Amendment rights.
Sherman Smith, who has been covering this story for the Kansas Reflector, told KCUR's Up To Date that something like this has never happened in Kansas.
"The Privacy Protection Act makes it illegal to do this for anybody who is involved in gathering news," said Smith. "The idea is to protect journalists from raids like this that could be designed to find out who our undercover sources or confidential sources are, which is a direct threat to the First Amendment and to democracy."
The day after the raid, Meyer's 98-year-old mother and co-owner of the paper, Joan, died in her home. Meyer said she was "stressed beyond her limits and overwhelmed by hours of shock and grief" after the police raids were carried out.
- Sherman Smith, editor in chief of the Kansas Reflector
