Former USA Today reporter Toni Locy has been found in contempt for violating a court order to reveal her confidential sources. Locy is being pressed to reveal her sources in Dr Steven Hatfill’s civil case against the federal government.
Hatfill, a former bioterrorism expert for the US army, asserts that leaks to the news media linking him to the anthrax attacks of 2001 ruined his reputation. Locy now faces fines of US$5,000 a day for refusing to name the sources she relied on in her articles concerning Hatfill. Judge Reggie B Walton insists that Ms. Locy’s testimony was important to help Dr Hatfill pursue his case against the government. Media advocates as well as Ms Locy worry that the judge’s order could hamper the work of journalists.
