Editorial | Don’t seize liberties

As students working at a college news organization, we sometimes feel compelled to speak out about issues affecting other universities’ newspapers.

A situation last week at James Madison University’s paper has prompted us to defend the rights of fellow student journalists. Riots broke out at the Harrisonburg, Va. school during its annual Springfest block party. The only news source with photographs of the incident was James Madison’s student newspaper, The Breeze.

Law enforcement officials made more than 30 arrests, and are now investigating the riots. As part of the investigation, the Rockingham County commonwealth’s attorney and police officers raided The Breeze’s offices and confiscated hundreds of photos, only some of which were of the riots. The newspaper’s editor-in-chief initially refused to allow the search but relented when police threatened to take all computers and electronic equipment in the office.

While the officials obtained a search warrant, they could have gone about retrieving the photos in a manner that better respected the newspaper. Relevant personnel could have issued a subpoena instead, which would have allowed The Breeze to ensure that students’ rights were protected.

Student newspapers deserve just treatment like other media outlets. Even if law enforcement acted legally, it didn’t treat the paper and the students working for it fairly.

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