So let me get this straight: the newspaper was investigating a liquor license request and using public records found the applicant had DUI arrests. The newspaper handed over this information to the police without publishing it. The police responded by alleging some kind of crime related to this request, signing an affidavit to that effect.
The judge who approved the search warrant is Magistrate Judge Laura Viar. Plot twist: that judge herself has 2 DUI arrests [1].
My first question when I heard about this raid was "what judge signed off on the search warrant and what were they told?" You can read the affidavit [2], which has since been withdrawn.
Any investigation should look at the judge who signed off on conducting a search of a newspaper, for which the bar should be extremely high.
The judge who approved the search warrant is Magistrate Judge Laura Viar. Plot twist: that judge herself has 2 DUI arrests [1].
My first question when I heard about this raid was "what judge signed off on the search warrant and what were they told?" You can read the affidavit [2], which has since been withdrawn.
Any investigation should look at the judge who signed off on conducting a search of a newspaper, for which the bar should be extremely high.
[1]: https://www.npr.org/2023/08/17/1194392001/judge-who-signed-k...
[2]: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23919909-marion-coun...