Stop Searches & Seizures of Journalists’ Work

Marion County Record

Searches of newsrooms and seizures of journalists’ materials chill reporting.

Police searches of newsrooms and seizures of journalists' communications, electronic devices, notes, and other reporting materials intimidates journalists and sources and chill reporting. Searches and seizures can reveal confidential sources and transform reporters into tools of law enforcement.

Numerous laws protect reporters from searches and seizures, but police routinely violate them. Too often, courts rubber-stamp requests for searches and seizures involving journalists. In some instances, officials even appear to have obtained illegal search warrants to intimidate and silence journalists and news outlets who criticize them.

Tell Congress to put a stop to newsroom raids

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Edit this message so that it is unique to you: Dear Member of Congress, As your constituent and a supporter of press freedom, I urge you to strongly support the Privacy Protection Updates Act (S.4268/H.R.8093) to strengthen an existing law, the Privacy Protection Act of 1980, that is supposed to stop raids of newsrooms and journalists. The recent raid of Washington Post journalist Hannah Natanson’s home, as well as the 2023 raid of the Marion County Record in Kansas and numerous other incidents, show that the PPA isn’t working. Prosecutors face no consequences for failing to inform judges of the law when seeking warrants, and seizures are not invalidated when they violate the law. The existing civil remedy falls far short, because even if a journalist can recover damages, they can’t recover the notes, research, draft, and other materials seized from them — sometimes terabytes worth. Even if they eventually get it back, by then the news cycle has moved on. Plus, seizures jeopardize the confidential source relationships on which reporters rely. Ultimately, the public suffers. The bill would change that and force investigators to comply with the PPA. You should co-sponsor it, vote for it, and do everything else you can to make it the law. URLs are not allowed in this message.

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