Reporter asks U.S. supreme court to block order requiring source disclosure or $800 daily fine

A U.S. journalist filed a petition with the U.S. supreme court on Friday asking the court to stay a contempt order that would require disclosure of sources or payment of an $800 daily fine. The order stems from a 2017 series of stories the journalist wrote for Fox News.

A district court judge issued the contempt ruling in February 2024 after the journalist declined to identify sources in a privacy lawsuit brought by Chinese American scientist Yanping Chen.

Appeals process The U.S. court of appeals for the District of Columbia circuit denied a request to pause the contempt order on Tuesday. The one-sentence ruling left the February 2024 order in place. Chen’s attorney stated that multiple court rulings have found no privilege protects the journalist from identifying a federal official alleged to have leaked protected materials.

Supreme court action Chief justice John Roberts issued a temporary stay giving Chen until 1 July to respond to the petition. Fox News said it welcomed the stay and supports protections for reporter-source confidentiality. Chen’s lawsuit seeks to identify who provided information about a U.S. government investigation into her background and an educational program she ran in Virginia.

The journalist has maintained that revealing sources would violate professional obligations. A representative of the Freedom of the Press Foundation said the supreme court should clarify limits on using journalists to build civil cases.