Police Raid on JMU’s Newspaper Seizes Over 900 Photos

By Lido Vizzutti, 4-19-10

	Caption: The Breeze at James Madison University

Police officers raided the offices of James Madison University's student newspaper The Breeze and seized over 900 photographs last week. The raid was a part of their investigation into the off-campus Springfest event that escalated into a riot.

An excerpt from a story on The Breeze Web site:

Frank D. LoMonte, the executive director of the Student Press Law Center, said the action by the commonwealth attorney’s office was “blatantly illegal” and a violation of the federal Privacy Protection Act.

The act states “it shall be unlawful for a government officer or employee, in connection with the investigation or prosecution of a criminal offense, to search for or seize any work product materials possessed by a person reasonably believed to have a purpose to disseminate to the public a newspaper, book, broadcast, or other similar form of public communication.”

“The tactics used this morning were a clear attempt to intimidate journalists into giving up their rights,” LoMonte said. “The threat to coerce the students and shut down the newsroom is completely out of bounds.”

Read the full story here.
Follow Updates on The Breeze Web site. [End of article]