PART 2: Current State of Law

 The Current State of Law: Freedom of Press

    According to The US Courts, the First Amendment protects freedom of speech. These freedoms protect the rights to the following: Not to speak (specifically, the right not to salute the flag), of students to wear black armbands to school to protest a war, to use certain offensive words and phrases to convey political messages, to contribute money (under certain circumstances) to political campaigns, to advertise commercial products and professional services (with some restrictions), and to engage in symbolic speech, These freedoms do not protect the following: To incite imminent lawless action, to make or distribute obscene materials, to burn draft cards as an anti-war protest, to permit students to print articles in a school newspaper over the objections of the school administration, of students to make an obscene speech at a school-sponsored event, and of students to advocate illegal drug use at a school-sponsored event.

    However, the recent findings from Freedom House, media freedom has been deteriorating around the world over the past decade, with new forms of repression taking hold in open societies and authoritarian states alike. The trend is most acute in Europe, previously a bastion of well-established freedoms, and in Eurasia and the Middle East, where many of the world’s worst dictatorships are concentrated. 

    The Current State of Law: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. The Fourth Amendment, however, is not a guarantee against all searches and seizures, but only those that are deemed unreasonable under the law.

The Current State of Law- The Search warrant provided by law enforcement does not apply in this situation as it is against the law to seize any materials handled by journalists regarding criminal activities or investigations. This is stated in Title 42 of the US code. 

The Current State of Law- The county attorney said there was, "insufficient evidence" to justify the police raid as well as was told to return all of the seized items. This was a violation of their first amendment being freedom of press. The reason for the raid was because of a complaint made from Kari Newell a former restaurant owner claiming they obtained her information illegally or without consent. This would indicate the Marion Newspaper went against the Privacy Act of 19 amendment which provides rights and protections to people and their own personal information, medical history, education, financial transactions, criminal record, as well as work history.