Brickbat: Small Town, Big Screwup

Marion County, Kansas, officials have agreed to pay about $3 million and issue a formal apology after law enforcement officers raided the Marion County Record newspaper, the publisher's home, and a city council member's house in August 2023. The raids stemmed from a dispute involving a local restaurant owner, whose driving record the newspaper had obtained while reporting on her liquor license application. A local prosecutor later said there was insufficient evidence to justify the raids. The settlement resolves five federal lawsuits and divides the payout among the publisher, former staff, and the council member.

Comments

[Roberta]

How is that a screwup? Looks totally malicious from here. And what was the "dispute"?

[AT]

The problem was with Kansas' system. It gave out way more info than it was supposed to, and had no safeguards that would require consent of the record-holder or verification of the person accessing it.

This case has resulted in a whole lot of WTF Kansas!, and the basis of this award comes from the fact that the Record technically did nothing wrong at the time. They exploited a loophole which, while not illegal, was certainly shameful. And devoid of any journalistic ethics whatsoever.

[Sometimes a Great Notion]

Ok, Mr Mealy Mouth. They legally obtained records, nothing technically or shameful about it.

[AT]

You'd cry bloody murder if those records were yours. And you'd be right to do so.

[Sometimes a Great Notion]

When I was arrested for possession of one gram of marijuana it was in the newspaper. I was more pissed at the cops for their bs treatment of me as if I was a hardened criminal who needed to be put in leg shackles and placed in a holding cell. My cries of bloody murder were for the politicians who felt the need to pass such laws.

[AT]

When I was arrested for possession of one gram of marijuana it was in the newspaper.

As well it should have been. A community deserves to know its drug criminals so it can run them out of town.

[Davy C]

Records indicating someone had a DUI conviction? Those should be public. Getting such records should not involve getting consent of the record-holder or verification of the person accessing it.

Furthermore, a newspaper investigating someone applying for a liquor license should not feel shame that they revealed someone's conviction related to alcohol *even if* it were illegal.

[AT]

Records indicating someone had a DUI conviction? Those should be public.

They are.

But the DMV doesn't deal in "convictions." Hence why their records are a bit more restricted - and appropriately so.

"Criminal" and "Administrative" mean two very different things.

a newspaper investigating someone applying for a liquor license should not feel shame that they revealed someone's conviction related to alcohol *even if* it were illegal.

That's not where the source of shame is. Or, should be.

[CE]

Maybe, but I wouldn't send a SWAT team to raid the home of someone for revealing something I had done in the past, if it was a public record.

[AT]

I've not read anything that indicates SWAT was utilized in the raid.

[LIBtranslator]

Totalitarian Altruists have a LOT to hide.

[Vernon Depner]

And none of the perpetrators will be punished, so this judgement will in no way affect the future behavior of Kansas cops. Once again, only the taxpayers will be punished.

[MWAocdoc]

I keep wondering when the voters will suddenly realize that they can vote against the officials and employees who cost them big tax bucks in settlements for the victims of their misbehavior. If I found out about my share of those millions of dollars in settlements I would find it hard to vote for them in the next election, even if the courts refuse to hold them personally liable! And where were the liability insurers before this happened? In my experience as an official, the insurers are usually downright nasty about minimizing the risk of something like this happening. Maybe my fellow Americans don't mind me paying out high-risk premiums to cover the idiocy of the people they elect, but I surely do!

[CE]

Payouts are nice, but where are the federal criminal charges for violating the publisher's civil rights under color of law? Someone should be facing 10 years in federal prison, not just a hefty fine.

[MWAocdoc]

Wait ... you didn't get the memo about weaponization of the justice system being reserved for partisan attacks only? If one official can be criminally punished for violating your civil rights, any other official can be too. They don't want to be next! Hold that "thin blue" line, Brothers! Unless you're a Republican or a Democrat, of course ...

[IceTrey]

The last guy has his finger on the trigger.

[LIBtranslator]

This in 2023, and here we are a month from 2026 finding out about it. This familiar pattern also extends to huge international raids, legislation and casus belli.