Brickbat: Hot Off the Press

City officials in Marion, Kansas, have agreed to pay $235,000 to remove the former police chief from a federal lawsuit brought by Deb Gruver, a former reporter with the Marion County Record. Last year, police raided the newspaper's offices, seizing computers, the newspaper's file server, and even personal cellphones. Police also raided the home of the newspaper's owners. The raid came after local business owner Kari Newell acknowledged at a city council meeting that she had continued to drive after her license was suspended for a DUI conviction. Newell accused the newspaper of illegally obtaining her driving record. The newspaper said it received a tip about the DUI and confirmed the claims through public records but decided not to publish the story, only reporting on the charges after Newell brought it up in a public meeting. But Chief Gideon Cody, who led the raid, claimed to have evidence that the paper, one of its reporters, and a city council member had committed computer crimes to access Newell's driving record. A local judge signed a warrant to that effect, which the county attorney later withdrew. Gruver's lawsuit is one of five federal lawsuits spawned by the raid, and she is still suing the Marion County sheriff and the county prosecutor.

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