Kansas asks judge who approved Marion newspaper raid to respond to misconduct complaint
Source: Kansas City Star
Kansas asks judge who approved Marion newspaper raid to respond to misconduct complaint
Jonathan Shorman
Wed, September 6, 2023 at 12:48 PM EDT·3 min read
A Kansas commission tasked with investigating judicial misconduct wants the judge who signed off on an extraordinary search of a newspaper to explain herself.
Magistrate Judge Laura Viar authorized a search of the Marion County Record in August. The search, led by Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody, has sparked international condemnation as an attack on press freedom. One of the paper’s reporters has filed a federal lawsuit against Cody.
The search warrant approved by Viar allowed officers to seize computers and other electronics from the newspaper as part of an investigation into the alleged identity theft of a local restaurant owner. Viar also approved warrants to search the home of publisher Eric Meyer, whose 98-year-old mother, Joan Meyer, was home at the time of the raid and died the next day; and the home of Marion councilwoman Ruth Herbel.
The local prosecutor, Marion County Attorney Joel Ensey, revoked the warrants less than a week later after finding insufficient evidence linking the seized devices to the alleged crimes.
Viar now faces official scrutiny over her actions.
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Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/kansas-asks-judge-approved-marion-164824216.html
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