Trials & Litigation
Journalist Faces Fines in Contempt Case Over Anthrax Articles
Posted Feb 20, 2008, 06:20 pm CDT
By Martha Neil
A federal judge has held a former USA Today reporter in contempt for refusing to turn over information about the sources she used when reporting that a former U.S. army scientist might have had a connection to 2001 anthrax attacks.
Until Toni Locy complies with Judge Reggie B. Walton's order, she faces potential fines of up to $5,000 a day, reports the New York Times. The judge says he plans to fine her $500 a day for seven days, $1,000 a day for another seven days, and then $5,000 a day for seven days. If that doesn't work, he may consider jail time.
Locy, who teaches journalism at West Virginia University, apparently doesn't plan to back down. “I’m concerned about the ramifications of this order for all journalists, beyond just me,” she says. Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, points out that Locy's work helped inform the public about a major health risk.
However, the scientist, bioterrorism expert Steven J. Hatfill, says his career was ruined by reported law enforcement leaks from unnamed confidential sources linking him to the attacks. Although "there’s not a scintilla of evidence to suggest Dr. Hatfill had anything to do with it,” the judge says, the notoriety has “destroyed his life."
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