Another Twin Cities Reporter Sues Snooping Authorities

Another Minneapolis Reporter is suing authorities for accessing his personal information.

The Star Tribune says that KSTP Reporter Jay Kolls has sued many municipalities and the state Department of Public Safety, alleging that law enforcement officers and others snooped at his driver’s license information without justification.

Kolls’ legal action Tuesday in federal court in Minneapolis said there were 27 instances from 2003 to 2011 when “personnel, charged with protecting and serving the public, knowingly abused their position of trust simply to satisfy their shallow desires to peek behind the curtain” into his private life.

In August, Fox 9 anchor and sports reporter Dawn Mitchell sued about 50 Minnesota governments in federal court after learning public employees had viewed her driver record 219 times over eight years. KSTP investigative producer — and former crime reporter — Beth McDonough filed a similar suit in July.

The suit adds that the defendants’ “utter disregard for [Kolls’] privacy rights” caused him “emotional distress and a logical fear for his personal safety.”