Lulu says: New Times owners arrested for publishing a story about a grand jury investigation in which they (the newspaper) are asked to provide (among other things) Web addresses, shopping habits and information about what Internet sites readers visited before logging onto the New Times.
The alternative weekly newspaper, in its cover story, said the subpoena was part of an investigation orchestrated to get back at its reporters and the critical stories they wrote of County Attorney Andrew Thomas' political ally Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
The scope of the subpoena is unusually broad: It not only demands information from the reporters but also information about all the online readers of the publication since Jan.1, 2004, including their Internet domain names and browsers and what other Web sites they visited before reading New Times.
Outside the jail this morning, New Times editor Rick Barrs told assembled media that the arrests had been an attack by Thomas' attorney.
"They're trying to muzzle us," Barrs said. "This is retaliation against us. And it's not just retaliation against us, it's retaliation against the press."
Previously on Boing Boing:
• Sheriff Joe Arpaio — the Dr. Mengele of the American Penal System
• American Idol for prisoners
• Maricopa County Sheriff's Department burn down a house and kill puppy over traffic citations
