Reporter Fights Supreme Court Over $800 Daily Fine for Protecting Source!

Facing an imminent daily penalty of $800 due to a 2024 civil contempt judgment, former Fox News reporter Catherine Herridge’s attorneys have requested a suspension of the fine. This action comes in response to a court directive demanding that Herridge disclose her sources from her 2017 reporting on Yanping Chen.

The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to uphold Judge Christopher R. Cooper’s decision came into effect on Tuesday. Subsequently, Herridge’s appellate lawyer, Paul D. Clement, filed for a stay on Friday. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts has since granted a temporary suspension of the appellate court’s decision, setting a deadline of July 1 for Chen to provide a response.

As advocates for press freedom voice their opposition to the privacy act lawsuit, Fox News has expressed approval of the temporary halt in a statement to The Guardian.

“We are gratified by the Supreme Court’s interim suspension of the deeply concerning contempt order,” a Fox News representative remarked. “Fox News staunchly supports the First Amendment and believes that journalists must be able to conduct their duties without the risk of severe fines or being compelled to reveal their sources.”

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On the other hand, Chen’s lawyer, Andy Phillips, stated, “Both the district and circuit courts have consistently ruled, now five times, that Ms. Herridge does not have the right to protect the identity of a federal official who illegally leaked confidential information, thereby harming an American citizen. We are confident that the Supreme Court will arrive at the same conclusion.”

In February 2024, Judge Cooper ruled Herridge in civil contempt for refusing to identify the source behind her stories concerning a federal probe into Chen, a U.S. citizen who established the University of Management and Technology in Virginia. The articles focused on Chen’s ties to the Chinese military, based on statements she made in the 1980s on her immigration documents regarding her work in China. Although Chen faced no charges, she sued the federal government, alleging that her privacy was breached when her information was leaked to Herridge and Fox News.