SPJ Joins Reporters Committee in Supporting Locy
The LDF Committee voted unanimously Sunday and Monday morning to sign on to an amicus brief in support of Toni Locy, the former USA Today reporter who is being held in contempt of court for rufusing to name her sources in a Privacy Act suit brought by former Army scientist Steven Hatfill.
Here's the
press release from SPJ. The Society considers this case yet another example of the need for a federal shield law.
Thanks to the
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press for staying on top of this case and inviting SPJ to participate.
The RCFP and SPJ are looking for ways to assist Locy financially without violating the court's order. Many journalists and student groups have expressed an interest in financially supporting Locy.
The RCFP has compiled several bullet points for background (
with links to documents) on the case and I'll note a few here:
No judge has ever officially ordered that a reporter held in
contempt may not accept reimbursement from an employer (or anyone
else.)
-
Locy has cooperated, but she can't
remember who her specific sources were, so the judge has ordered her to
reveal the names of up to a dozen confidential sources she routinely
relied upon in the Justice Department (many of them who were sources
for stories more sensitive than this one.)
-
The fine (up to $5,000 a day) is punitive. If the judge
wants to punish Locy, he should try her for criminal contempt and
let a jury find that she willfully, intentionally and criminally forgot
who her sources were for these stories