The Marion County Record was raided last week; the reversal by county prosecutors follows days of protest from press-freedom advocates
and confirmed by the attorney for the Marion County Record, followed days of outraged reactions from press-advocacy organizations, which called the police seizure on Friday a violation of state and federal laws.
A day after the raid, Meyer’s 98-year-old mother, Joan Meyer, collapsed and died. The newspaper attributed her death to “stress” brought on by the search of the home she shared with her son.While the newspaper and Meyer now appear to be out of legal jeopardy, Rhodes suggested this is unlikely to be the end of the incident. He urgedhow the raid came about, including the role played by Marion police chief Gideon Cody, who led the search.
The raid of the small weekly newspaper — virtually unprecedented in the U.S. — was apparently prompted by a dispute involving a local restaurant owner in Marion, a town of about 1,900 residents located about 60 miles from Wichita. Kari Newell claimed the paper’s reporters had illegally stolen her identity to access a government database that contained records of her arrest for drunken driving in 2008.
Rhodes called the withdrawal of the warrant “a promising first step” in restoring the newspaper and publisher’s rights. But, he added, “it doesn’t do anything to undo the past and regrettably, it doesn’t bring back Joan Meyer.”Press groups that had protested the police raid on Friday cheered Wednesday’s developments.
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