A weekly central Kansas newspaper and its publisher have filed a federal lawsuit over police raids last summer of its offices and the publisher’s home.

A weekly central Kansas newspaper and its publisher filed a federal lawsuit Monday over police raids last summer of its offices and the publisher’s home, accusing local officials of trying to silence the paper and causing the death of the publisher’s 98-year-old mother.

The lawsuit did not include a specific figure for potential damages. However, in a separate notice to local officials, the paper and its publisher said they believe they are due more than $10 million.

The lawsuit from the Marion County Record’s parent company and Eric Meyer, its editor and publisher, accuses the city of Marion, the Marion County Commission and five current and former local officials of violating free press rights and the right to be free from unreasonable law enforcement searches guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit also notified the defendants that Meyer and the newspaper plan to add other claims, including that officials wrongly caused the death of Meyer’s mother the day after the raids, which the lawsuit attributes to a stress-induced heart attack.

  • roguetrick@kbin.social
    35·
    7 months ago

    https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/meyer-vs-marion-complaint-usdc-kansas.pdf

    The filing reads more like an investigative journalist report than a legal filling. It’s like a small town version of the Wire. The gang in this instance, of course, are police and their sychpohants.

    It also goes full blast on the judge and calls her essentially a lazy drunk who can’t follow basic legal procedure. What makes that funny is she isn’t even a party to the case, because she obviously has qualified immunity even if she’s a lazy drunk.

    While Chief Cody did not turn off his body camera while relieving himself, he apparently chose to turn it off while he reviewed Gruver’s confidential investigative file on him, for the Marion Police Department did not produce any body camera footage from Chief Cody of him looking through Gruver’s file on him

    Included with that quote is a picture of Cody in the pisser, lol.

    • wjrii@lemmy.worldEnglish
      20·
      7 months ago

      It does take a long time to get to the legal arguments, LOL, but they’re obviously very strong. This is a newspaper that has no more fucks to give.

      I have ancestors born in Marion. Never imagined I’d see that town making national news for First Amendment litigation.