# Police stage 'chilling' raid on small Kansas newspaper, seizing computers (due to divorce conflict?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** breaking-news\ **Created:** [August 12, 2023, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-small-kansas-newspaper-seizing-computers-due-to-divorce-conflict/988438 "2023-08-12T02:57:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-small-kansas-newspaper-seizing-computers-due-to-divorce-conflict/988438/21 "2023-08-16T19:29:14Z")
Maybe this is a law-talkin’ thing, but how the actual fuck do you “withdraw” a warrant that’s already been executed? That’s like unshooting a murder victim. There was never going to be a prosecution. This was entirely about trashing the business and information technology assets of a political troublemaker. And after that, “shucks, didn’t mean to do that” is entirely irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-small-kansas-newspaper-seizing-computers-due-to-divorce-conflict/988438/22 "2023-08-16T19:36:41Z")
I’m not a law-talkin’ guy, but my assumption was that withdrawing the warrant means anything they seized during the search is inadmissible as evidence in a trial. But you’re right, if the point of the raid was just to intimidate the newspaper and there was never going to be a trial, then whether or not any “evidence” is admissible in court is moot. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-small-kansas-newspaper-seizing-computers-due-to-divorce-conflict/988438/23 "2023-08-16T19:46:37Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > But you’re right, if the point of the raid was just to intimidate the newspaper… Well, the raid killed the co-owner of the paper, so there’s that. “Withdrawing the warrant” won’t bring her back. > **[Small Kansas newspaper says co-owner, 98, collapsed and died after police raid](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kansas-newspaper-police-raid-marion-county-record-joan-meyer-dies/)** > > Police defended the raids of the Marion County Record office and the home of the newspaper's 98-year-old co-owner, insisting that the co-owner was a suspect in the investigation. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-small-kansas-newspaper-seizing-computers-due-to-divorce-conflict/988438/24 "2023-08-16T20:00:52Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > my assumption was that withdrawing the warrant means anything they seized during the search is inadmissible as evidence in a trial. Right, plus the article states that they must return all seized assets to the newspaper. In a related twist, it appears that the Magistrate who approved the warrant has a bit of a checkered past herself. > **[Judge who approved raid on Kansas newspaper has history of DUI arrests](https://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article278237263.html)** > > Magistrate Judge Laura Viar signed a search warrant authorizing a raid on the Marion County Record after the newspaper used a public database to confirm a restaurant owner’s drunk-driving record. This article certainly does not speak well of the Kansas judicial system. Many of those judges appear to have attended the same judge-training academy as Aileen Cannon. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-small-kansas-newspaper-seizing-computers-due-to-divorce-conflict/988438/25 "2023-08-16T20:10:18Z")
I rather assume lawyers from all those big city papers will enjoy helping this small town paper. Great fun awaits. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-small-kansas-newspaper-seizing-computers-due-to-divorce-conflict/988438/26 "2023-08-16T20:15:52Z")
> [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](#): > > I rather assume lawyers from all those big city papers will enjoy helping this small town paper. Indeed. The attorney quoted in the article which you linked, Bernie Rhodes, also represents the Kansas City Star. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-small-kansas-newspaper-seizing-computers-due-to-divorce-conflict/988438/27 "2023-08-16T20:42:28Z")
[So hopefully the paper will have all of their items returned.](https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/16/us/kansas-marion-newspaper-raid-search-warrant/index.html) But if there was a message, it has been sent. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-small-kansas-newspaper-seizing-computers-due-to-divorce-conflict/988438/28 "2023-08-16T22:35:47Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > It’s a woman, Laura Viar. My apologies to the idiot judge. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-small-kansas-newspaper-seizing-computers-due-to-divorce-conflict/988438/29 "2023-08-16T22:48:54Z")
Dollars to donuts the equipment is trashed. Disassembled, perhaps violently. All storage “accidentally” wiped or destroyed. Basically, scrap. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-small-kansas-newspaper-seizing-computers-due-to-divorce-conflict/988438/30 "2023-08-16T22:56:45Z")
[And the county prosecutor has said everything should be returned.](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kansas-newspaper-police-raid-marion-county-prosecutor-items-returned/) The paper is still trying to publish. I hope they’re able to do so! ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-small-kansas-newspaper-seizing-computers-due-to-divorce-conflict/988438/31 "2023-08-16T22:57:27Z")
What recourse does the paper (or other folks in similar situations) have regarding property destroyed in a search? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2023, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-small-kansas-newspaper-seizing-computers-due-to-divorce-conflict/988438/32 "2023-08-16T22:59:37Z")
Lawsuit. As always. Justice delayed. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-small-kansas-newspaper-seizing-computers-due-to-divorce-conflict/988438/33 "2023-08-17T00:08:00Z")
Qualified impunity. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-small-kansas-newspaper-seizing-computers-due-to-divorce-conflict/988438/34 "2023-08-17T01:26:34Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > The paper is still trying to publish. I hope they’re able to do so! They put out a paper today! How, I’m not sure, but I saw local video that showed them putting papers into the machines that dispense the papers. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-small-kansas-newspaper-seizing-computers-due-to-divorce-conflict/988438/35 "2023-08-17T01:29:59Z")
Necessity is the mother of invention. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-small-kansas-newspaper-seizing-computers-due-to-divorce-conflict/988438/36 "2023-08-17T04:42:38Z")
I heard earlier today that this newspaper has had 3,000 new subscribers since all of this happened, most of them not local, and a surprising number from outside the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-small-kansas-newspaper-seizing-computers-due-to-divorce-conflict/988438/37 "2023-08-17T10:15:32Z")
This article quotes the publisher stating that there have been 2,000 new subscribers, which is still a huge jump. > **[Marion County Record publishes in defiance of police raid — and gets seized...](https://kansasreflector.com/2023/08/16/marion-county-record-publishes-in-defiance-of-police-raid-and-gets-seized-property-back/)** > > Marion County Record staff worked through the night to publish the paper's weekly edition as scheduled Wednesday. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-small-kansas-newspaper-seizing-computers-due-to-divorce-conflict/988438/38 "2023-08-17T18:43:13Z")
How do you withdraw a warrant after the fact? It’s already a done thing. I am missing something. > **[Warrant allowing raid on Kansas newspaper withdrawn due to 'insufficient...](https://news.yahoo.com/kansas-newspaper-police-raid-warrant-withdrawn-equipment-released-marion-county-record-140050314.html?guccounter=1)** > > Questions remain over the legality of last week’s raid on the Marion County Record, which was investigating the new town police chief. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-small-kansas-newspaper-seizing-computers-due-to-divorce-conflict/988438/39 "2023-08-17T19:13:42Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Dollars to donuts the equipment is trashed. Disassembled, perhaps violently. All storage “accidentally” wiped or destroyed. Who knows what they did with it or what they installed on it while they had it. Even if it’s all in perfect working order, a wipe and reinstall would be prudent. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2023, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-small-kansas-newspaper-seizing-computers-due-to-divorce-conflict/988438/40 "2023-08-17T19:18:54Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > They put out a paper today! How, I’m not sure I read one article that said other news organisations were offering computers and assistance to ensure they would be able to publish. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-small-kansas-newspaper-seizing-computers-due-to-divorce-conflict/988438.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/police-stage-chilling-raid-on-small-kansas-newspaper-seizing-computers-due-to-divorce-conflict/988438.md?page=3)