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By ROD NORDLANDCollegian Senior ReporterPalo Alto, California city police Monday night raided the offices of the Stanford University Daily, armed with a search warrant to .collect evidence on students involved in recent riots at Stanford.Daily editors said that, over their pro-, tests, four police officers conducted an exhaustive search of files, desk drawers, waste baskets and records in the student newspaper office. Police said they were seeking information on the identities of persons involved in rioting which broke out at Stanford last Sriday.Police were issued a search warrant for the newspaper office, located on University property, after swearing to an affidavit alleging that there was reason to believe staff members on the newspaper were abetting criminals, The search warrant specifically authorized police to search through photo and negative film files taken by Daily photographers at the scene of the rioting.Hour SearchThe one-hour search of the-newspaper offices was fruitless and police left ,«mp.ty-handed. Daily Editor-in-chiefFelicity Barringer of Villa nova Pa. said 1 the student newspaper long ago had made it a policy to destroy all possibly incriminating records that were not used for actual publication in the newspaper./‘Until* we are sure of legal protection against this kind of thing, we will con-' tinue that policy,’* Miss Barringer Said. “We are not trying to aid criminal behavior but we are not an information 'system for anybody, except, thi.s newspaper,” she added.Miss Barringer, in an interview with The Daily Collegian last night, said The Daily is considering legal action and presently is making inquiries about attorneys. She called the raid a “very obvious and dangerous case of infringement of First Amendment rights.“The reasons police gave for the raid are patently ridiculous.” she said, adding that it is not the function of a newspaper to serve-as the investigative arm of the police department. Police officials were not available last night to comment on reasons for the raid, but Miss Barringer said police had indicated to her that they felt the newspaper should turn over any photos or other information it has which would incriminate persons involved in illegal activity.She said the newspaper is considering several courses of legal action including: —seeking injunctive relief, which would entail having the local common pleas court issue an injunction forbidding the police, department in Palo Alto from making another such raid;—seeking declaratory relief, which would entail having the local court issue a warning simply declaring that police had violated the newspaper’s FirstAmendment rights to freedom of the press, or—filing suit in United States District Court in California under the Civil Rights Act of 1968 for abridgement of First Amendment rights.Miss Barringer said the evening raid and search intcrfcrrcd with t h epublication of Tuesday morning's pdition of The Daily, causing financial expense for overtime printing costs. Thenewspaper’s lawyers are considering suing fon reparations, she added.Money Problem She said the student newspaper’s biggest problem in. filing suit is raising enough money 'to cover a long court action. “This will probably be a long, drawn-out count process,” she said. With a $160,000 yearly budget, The Daily isnow $20,000 in debt, but Miss Barringer said she expects to be able to get financial support from newspapers and other interested media.She said editorial criticism of the police raid has come from the San Francisco Chronicle, the Mercury Monterey, the Palo Alto Times and a local radio station KDKE-AM. “I expect powerful media support because this could set an important precedent,” she said.Miss’Barringer said Monday’s raid was not the first time local authorities had attempted to use information gathered by the Daily. Eighteen months ago photographs of demonstrations were subpoenaed by a local grand jury, she said, adding that it was at that time that the Daily began a policy of destroying possibly incriminating pictures and records.The practice of using subpoenas to get information _ from reporters a n d newspapers was curtailed this year in a Supreme Court Decision. The court found unconstitutional a subpoena issued for information which Earl Caldwell, a New York Times reporter, wrote about the Black Panthers. The court ruled that such a subpoena represented a dangerous threat to press freedom.
Newspaper Details
State College Daily Collegian
State College, Pennsylvania, US
Thu, Apr 15, 1971
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Pete E.
NA, 19 Aug 2023
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