The Supreme Court has declined to block a $800-a-day fine for former Fox News reporter Catherine Herridge, rejecting her emergency appeal to halt the contempt order that would force her to reveal a confidential source or face escalating financial penalties.
Herridge was held in civil contempt in February 2024 by U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper after she refused to answer questions about her sources during a deposition. The sources had provided information for a series of stories she published in 2017 examining Chinese American scientist Yanping Chen’s ties to the Chinese military and a professional school she founded in Virginia.
Chen sued the FBI and Justice Department in 2018 after a six-year investigation into her background never resulted in charges but generated negative media attention, hate mail, and death threats. She alleged the leak violated the Privacy Act, which prohibits public disclosure of private information without consent. Chen’s lawyers subpoenaed Herridge to identify who had leaked documents, personal photographs, and information from FBI files and immigration forms.
“Journalists facing contempt should not have to muster large payments to the court while they seek to vindicate First Amendment rights,” said Bruce Brown, president of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. “And forcing them to betray source confidences always has a harmful impact on the free flow of information to the public.”
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously upheld Judge Cooper’s contempt ruling in September 2025, rejecting arguments that Herridge held a qualified privilege to shield her source. On Tuesday, the appeals court issued a one-sentence ruling denying her plea to stay the fine, prompting her legal team to file an emergency petition with the Supreme Court.
Chief Justice John Roberts initially issued a temporary stay to allow Chen’s lawyers until July 1 to respond. On Thursday, the Supreme Court declined the application, though Justice Brett Kavanaugh noted his support for granting the stay. Fox News expressed disappointment, calling source protection “fundamental to a free and functioning democracy.”
The case has drawn intense scrutiny from press advocates because the U.S. lacks a federal shield law protecting journalists from forced source disclosure. In 2005, New York Times reporter Judith Miller spent 85 days in jail after refusing to reveal a confidential source in a federal investigation. Six years later, a coalition of news organizations settled a lawsuit over reporting on nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee for $750,000 after five journalists were ordered to pay $500-per-day fines until they disclosed sources.
Herridge, who later worked at CBS News before becoming an independent journalist, has maintained she cannot betray her promise of confidentiality to a source. Chen’s attorney, Andrew Phillips, countered that the identity of the federal official who leaked materials is essential to proving Privacy Act violations. “Dr. Chen, like any other American citizen, is entitled to discover the identity of the federal official(s) who abused their access to an American’s private information and leaked it to cause her harm,” he said.
Sources
- Associated Press — Supreme Court decline, fine amount, Herridge’s reporting on Chen, contempt order details, Fox News statement
- The Guardian — Herridge’s petition filing, Chief Justice Roberts’ stay, D.C. Circuit ruling, press freedom advocate commentary from Seth Stern and Bruce Brown
- Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press — Judith Miller precedent (85 days in jail), reporter’s privilege background
