The U.S. Supreme Court declines Catherine Herridge’s request to halt contempt penalties after she refused to disclose a confidential source related to her reporting. Herridge, a former Fox News reporter, has faced a civil contempt order from a federal court for refusing to provide identifying information about her source for certain articles. The lower court found she was in contempt and imposed monetary sanctions of $800 per day. The articles at issue were published in 2017 and involved reporting connected to a scientist who was later investigated by the F.B.I.
Herridge sought Supreme Court intervention to stop the fines while she continued to resist disclosing the source. The Supreme Court’s action means the lower court’s contempt finding and the ongoing fine remain in effect, at least for the time being. The case centers on the balance between a reporter’s refusal to reveal sources and a court’s authority to compel testimony or information in a legal proceeding. The reporting details and the broader circumstances of the underlying investigation are not altered by the Supreme Court’s decision, but the penalty structure for her continued refusal remains.
