USA Today reporter Toni Locy and four others held in contempt in Steven Hatfill Privacy Act suit; contempt vacated after $5.82M DOJ settlement
On February 19, 2008, U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton held former USA Today reporter Toni Locy in civil contempt and imposed escalating personal fines of $500–$5,000 per day — barring her former employer from indemnifying her — for refusing to identify her FBI/DOJ sources for 2001–2002 reporting that named Army biodefense scientist Steven Hatfill as a 'person of interest' in the 2001 anthrax letter attacks. The contempt order was vacated September 8, 2008 after DOJ paid Hatfill $5.82 million to settle his Privacy Act lawsuit.
Dates: Reporting 2001–2002; Hatfill filed Privacy Act suit 2003 (Hatfill v. Ashcroft, D.D.C.); five journalists ordered to reveal sources August 13, 2007; Locy held in contempt with personal fines February 19, 2008; DOJ settlement with Hatfill June 27, 2008 ($5.82M); D.C. Circuit vacated contempt order September 8, 2008. Individuals and organizations: Toni Locy (USA Today, later AP); four additional reporters (named in filings as including journalists from Washington Post, NBC News, and wire services); Steven J. Hatfill (plaintiff, Army biodefense scientist); U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton; DOJ/FBI. What happened: Multiple reporters had named Hatfill as a 'person of interest' in the 2001 anthrax letter attacks (which killed five people), sourced to DOJ/FBI officials. Hatfill sued under the Privacy Act. Judge Walton ordered five reporters to identify sources; Locy refused. Walton uniquely barred USA Today from paying her contempt fines. Locy appealed. Before the appeal was resolved, DOJ settled with Hatfill for $5.82 million; the D.C. Circuit then vacated the contempt order as moot. Hatfill was fully exonerated when the FBI subsequently identified Bruce Ivins as the likely perpetrator (Ivins died by suicide July 2008). Legal authority used: Civil deposition subpoenas in Privacy Act litigation; civil contempt; unusual personal-fine order barring employer indemnification. Outcome: No reporter imprisoned. Locy not personally bankrupted because contempt was vacated. Hatfill settlement. Why it matters: Confidential sources were at issue. The personal-indemnification bar was an unprecedented attempt to make source protection financially ruinous for an individual journalist — drawing national criticism from press-freedom organizations.