2y ago

Judge who signed off on raid of Kansas newspaper is facing a complaint about the decision

www.cnn.com

Judge who signed off on raid of Kansas newspaper is facing a complaint about the decision | CNN

The judge who signed off on a search warrant authorizing the raid of a newspaper office in Marion, Kansas, is facing a complaint about her decision and has been asked by a judicial body to respond, records shared with CNN by the complainant show.

79 comments

She should have been removed immediately. Perfect example of everything wrong with the American justice system
- in the good ol' days it would have been by an angry mob with pitchforks and hot tar.. for authorizing the murder of an old woman by the cops..
  
  We are civilized now boy... Fuck ur rights
  
  The social contract is unraveling.
  We'll get back to those days soon enough.
  
  No it wouldn't, quit your bullshit
- The justice system generally allows everyone a chance to defend themselves. People aren't removed immediately for the same reason they aren't executed immediately.
  
  I'm talking about firing. Not imprisonment. And yes, if you fuck up big time, it's completely fine to be fired on the spot. She issued a search warrant for a journalist, in complete violation of State and Federal law.
  
  and yet us commoners are frequently arrested and detained without cause. Yes, police can and do fuck up peoples' lives and make them sit in jail for days just to have charges dropped in many cases. You could whine and say it's rare, but once is too much vs the rules they're SUPPOSED to operate under.
  Do not defend a two-faced "justice" system.
  
  same reason they aren’t executed immediately.
  They... are executed immediately.
  See all the police killings of innocent people?
  The judicial system allows those with wealth to game it so they don't have to play by the same rules as everyone else. Remember the affluenza kid who killed for people while driving recklessly? What about the other rich white male who literally raped a girl and got off because 'it could damage his future.'
  Meanwhile, poor black folk get executed for no-knock search warrants when the cops go to the wrong place.
  Police know to be more lenient with people that have status (wealth.) That's why we just got a recording with a pig laughing about a cop running over a pedestrian because she 'was of low value.'
  If you don't notice how the justice system doesn't serve you, you're not paying attention.
- I've been loosely following this story and I read the warrant applications. You seem certain this is outrageous. Could you explain why?
  What was wrong with the warrant? The police seem to have had good probable cause. I'm a huge advocate for free press, but I've yet to hear a legal argument for what is so objectionable, here.
  
  The probable cause statement wasn't even filed until after the warrant was issued and raid occurred.
  https://thehill.com/media/4155087-publisher-newspaper-raided-police-says-timing-probable-cause-affidavit-suspicious/
  “We finally were able to obtain the probable cause affidavit that was supposed to support the search warrant. It was filed three days after the searches were conducted, which is a little suspicious,” Meyer said in a CNN interview Wednesday.
  
  The top prosecutor, who ordered the seized materials be returned, said themselves that “insufficient evidence exists to establish a legally sufficient nexus between this alleged crime and the places searched and the items seized.” There was never probable cause, no evidence that this alleged illegal access ever happened. There never should have been a warrant in the first place.
  
  I've yet to see reasonable cause. Mind sharing your own thought process so we can all know where the other is coming from?
  
  They should have issued a subpoena, like every other case. Also the judge ordered the return of seized items from the search. Not a good sign of confidence in their legality.
Few days old but I didn't see this on search. It likely won't go anywhere but I found the dig on the judge's mental capacity to be hilarious.
The complaint requests the Kansas Commission on Judicial Conduct to review “Viar’s mental capacity in her decision to seemingly circumvent federal and state law” when she signed off on the search warrant for the newspaper office
- I don't know about going nowhere. The higher courts generally get pretty grumpy about lower courts going mask-off like this.
  
  Nothing for them to quash at this point since the county attorney withdrew the warrant. I don't really forsee her getting impeached or being declared without capacity and she has qualified immunity for civil damages. Hope she doesn't get reelected.
  Edit: unless she's shown to have signed off without the affidavit. That could get her into trouble. I don't think they can prove that though.
Good. The whole point of judicial review is to not be a rubber stamp and to protect the rights of accused. They failed in both ways here.
- Rubber stamping search warrants is how it's done though. If every case becomes high profile then things might change but I have no faith.
  
  High profile stories like these at least send a warning to other judges that they take a risk when they blanket approve things without due diligence.
  I’d hope this is a sign for things to change, but I don’t know how likely.
She should be facing impeachment ad disbarment.
- She should be facing murder charges.
Doing the stupid, then lying about it when they get caught, seems to be the way big fish in small ponds operate.
The town's civic leadership is going to look vastly different a year from now.
- I wouldn't bet on that. Apathy and inertia are hard things to overcome.
- What was the lie?
  
  Maybe try reading about the case.
Just one?
The wheels of justice turn slowly. And then stall and die.

79 comments