Kansans deserve a full report of possible civil rights violations stemming from an August raid on the Marion County Record, and state lawmakers should step up and assert their support of a free press, says Mari-Lynn Poskin, a Leawood Democrat.
Poskin has crafted a resolution to that effect and introduced it in the Kansas House of Representatives. It has bipartisan support — 35 Democrats and 10 Republicans, so far.
But whether anything comes of it is an open question. Typically, resolutions go straight to a vote on the House floor. This one was assigned by Republican Speaker Dan Hawkins to the Committee on Judiciary.
“I expected it to pop right up and move along,” Poskin said, noting that the House put resolutions on Israel, Ireland and Taiwan up for quick votes. But so far there’s been no scheduled committee hearing on her free press resolution.
“I’m worried it’s been sentenced to death by committee,” Poskin said.
Sen. Dinah Sykes, a Lenexa Democrat, introduced a similar resolution into the Kansas Senate as well
Seven senators — all Democrats — signed onto that measure. It, too, was assigned to a committee and now awaits action by the Committee on Federal and State Affairs.
What are lawmakers seeking with the resolution?
At the heart of the resolutions are unresolved questions about a police raid last summer of the Marion County Record.
That incident, in which local police confiscated computers, cell phones and other papers and equipment from the newspaper’s owners Joan Meyer and Eric Meyer, attracted national attention. Joan Meyer, 98, died a day after the Aug. 11 raid.
The circumstances were complex, but originated in assertions from the owner of a coffee shop and eating establishment, Kari Newell, that a reporter from the Record had violated her privacy by obtaining a driving record of a past DUI. The record was later revealed to have come from a website open to the public.
Newell had been seeking a liquor license at the time from the city council. Police also raided the home of Marion Vice Mayor Ruth Herbel.
The confiscated items were released on an order from the Marion County attorney citing a lack of evidence to justify the search.
Along the way, Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody was suspended and resigned. It was alleged that law enforcement copied and kept the newspaper’s computer data, and that Cody asked Newell to delete text messages with him about the incident.
Out-of-state investigators, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, have since been called in.
Resolutions in the House and Senate differ from bills in that they have no enforcement power. They simply express the lawmaker’s sentiments on an issue.
In this case, Poskin said, having a report would help legislators know if laws need to be changed to keep a newspaper raid like the one in Marion from happening again.
Poskin says supporting a free press is bipartisan
Supporting a free press is a bipartisan issue, she said, because, “every single one of us in the House chamber affirmed we would support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of Kansas,” when they were sworn in, she said. “A free press is at the very beginning of both of those constitutions.”
But she said she got some pushback from House Republican leadership. Hawkins told her he viewed the resolution as an attack on law enforcement and “wouldn’t touch it with a 10-foot pole,” Poskin said.
Hawkins responded through a spokesperson.
“I strongly believe in the freedom of the press and I also believe in accountability. That being said, this is still an active investigation and until that concludes we do not believe it’s prudent to act. We need to let the process play out first,” he said.
Paul Waggoner, one of the Republicans who signed onto the resolution, said the issue hits home for him because he wrote unpaid columns for the Hutchinson News before being elected. Hutchinson is not that far from Marion, he added.
Some say “governmental overreach” needs investigating
Waggoner said the incident was troubling and he doesn’t see the request for the report as a slap at Kansas law enforcement.
“Governmental overreach seemed like a plausible problem that needed investigation. It just seemed so over the top,” he said.
Citizens and journalists “should not be afraid that literally someone’s going to come busting in your door.” That is something that resonates with Republicans as well as Democrats, he said.
Emily Bradbury, executive director of the Kansas Press Association, said the association supports the resolution and will be asking for the release of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation’s report, she said. (Johnson County Post Publisher Jay Senter sits on the board of the Kansas Press Association.)
But even without enforcement power, the resolution supporting journalists is a good way to create a dialogue about press freedom as well as a morale boost for people in the industry, she said.
“We feel like a majority of Kansans, no matter what side of the aisle you’re on, value transparency and value limiting government overreach, and we feel that was violated,” Bradbury said. “For us, this is not a partisan issue.”
