A Kansas town will pay $850K to end a reporter's lawsuit over a 2023 raid on her paper's offices
- A small Kansas town has agreed to pay $850,000 to a former reporter to settle her federal lawsuit.
- The lawsuit was related to a police raid on the Marion County Record newspaper's offices in 2023.
- The reporter, Phyllis Zorn, claimed the raid violated press freedoms and caused her health issues.
- The settlement comes as part of a larger agreement where Marion County will pay over $3 million to settle multiple lawsuits.
- The police chief investigated the newspaper for potential identity theft, but the raids were deemed not legally justified.
A small Kansas town has agreed to pay $850,000 to a former reporter at its weekly newspaper to settle her federal lawsuit over a police raid of the paper's offices in 2023. The lawsuit, filed by now-retired Marion County Record reporter Phyllis Zorn, claimed that the raid violated press freedoms and protections from unreasonable searches guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
Zorn stated that the raid led to health problems, including the return of potentially life-threatening seizures that had been controlled for years. The settlement was announced on the third anniversary of the raid, and Zorn's lawsuit will be dismissed as part of this agreement.
Marion County has agreed to pay over $3 million to settle claims in five lawsuits related to the raids, including $600,000 to Zorn. The police chief, Gideon Cody, had been investigating the newspaper for potential identity theft, but authorities later determined that the raids were not legally justified. The incident has drawn national attention and led to questions about the conduct of local officials.
堪萨斯州一小镇将支付85万美元了结记者因2023年突袭其报社办公室提起的诉讼
堪萨斯州一小镇同意支付85万美元以了结一名前记者对其提起的联邦诉讼，该诉讼与2023年对报社办公室的警方突袭有关。现已退休的马里昂县记录报社记者菲利斯·佐恩在诉讼中声称，该突袭侵犯了新闻自由和美国宪法对不合理搜查的保护。
佐恩表示，突袭导致了健康问题，包括潜在的威胁生命的癫痫复发，这些癫痫曾在多年的治疗中得到控制。此次和解在突袭三周年之际宣布，佐恩的诉讼将作为此次协议的一部分被驳回。
马里昂县同意支付超过300万美元以解决与突袭相关的五起诉讼，包括向佐恩支付60万美元。警方局长基迪恩·科迪曾对该报进行身份盗窃的调查，但当局后来认定这些突袭并不合法。此事件引发了全国关注，并导致对地方官员行为的质疑。