Judge Clarifies That Reporter Catherine Herridge Doesn't Have To Pay $800-Per-Day Contempt Fines As She Pursues Supreme Court Appeal
Deadline
β’Fri, 07 Aug 2026 20:00:56 +0000
π° What Happened
A federal judge, Christopher Cooper, has clarified that investigative reporter Catherine Herridge does not have to pay the $800-per-day contempt fine he had imposed while she pursues an appeal to the US Supreme Court. Cooper issued a minute order putting the fines on hold until the denial of a timely-filed certiorari petition or completion of Supreme Court proceedings, and ordered the return of any fine payments Herridge has already made. The Supreme Court had last month declined Herridge's emergency effort to block the fines.
π The Backstory
Herridge was found in civil contempt after declining to reveal the source for her 2017 Fox News stories reporting on a federal investigation of Yanping Chen, a naturalised US citizen and founder of the University of Management and Technology in Virginia. The FBI investigation examined statements Chen made on immigration forms about her work in China in the 1980s, and while Chen was not charged, she sued the federal government claiming someone leaked information about her to Herridge and Fox.
π― Why It Matters
The case is a significant test of press freedom and whether journalists can be compelled to reveal confidential sources. Herridge's willingness to face escalating fines rather than name a source underscores the importance placed on source protection, and the Supreme Court appeal could set an important precedent for how US courts treat reporters' shield protections and contempt sanctions in leaking investigations.
A federal judge, Christopher Cooper, has clarified that investigative reporter Catherine Herridge does not have to pay the $800-per-day contempt fine he had imposed while she pursues an appeal to the US Supreme Court. Cooper issued a minute order putting the fines on hold until the denial of a timely-filed certiorari petition or completion of Supreme Court proceedings, and ordered the return of any fine payments Herridge has already made. The Supreme Court had last month declined Herridge's emergency effort to block the fines.
Herridge was found in civil contempt after declining to reveal the source for her 2017 Fox News stories reporting on a federal investigation of Yanping Chen, a naturalised US citizen and founder of the University of Management and Technology in Virginia. The FBI investigation examined statements Chen made on immigration forms about her work in China in the 1980s, and while Chen was not charged, she sued the federal government claiming someone leaked information about her to Herridge and Fox.
The case is a significant test of press freedom and whether journalists can be compelled to reveal confidential sources. Herridge's willingness to face escalating fines rather than name a source underscores the importance placed on source protection, and the Supreme Court appeal could set an important precedent for how US courts treat reporters' shield protections and contempt sanctions in leaking investigations.