Fines blocked for reporter who would not reveal sources

By Naomi P.

AP photo of Dr. Steven J. Hatfill


Former USA Today reporter Toni Locy won a reprieve this week in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia from having to pay a huge contempt of court fine while her case is on appeal.

Dr. Steven J. Hatfill, about whom she wrote after John Ashcroft mentioned him as “a person of interest” in the anthrax attacks of 2001, filed a civil suit in which he demanded the names of Locy’s anonymous sources who confirmed or provided details about him.

Rather than sentence her to jail time for refusing to name her sources, as is usual in such cases, the lower court ruled that beginning Tuesday, she was to pay a fine of up to $5000 a day.

In an even more unusual move, U.S. District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton also barred USA Today or anyone else, for that matter, from paying or otherwise assisting with the fine.

But while she is breathing a tentative sigh of relief, the rest of the press community holds its breath. If she loses the appeal, the case will set a precedent that could allow the court to force reporters into punitive bankruptcy and could foreseeably destroy the field and purpose of journalism, particularly investigative journalism. Journalists and even politicians are calling for a federal shield law.