A federal appeals court threw out a contempt order requiring fines of up to $5,000 a day against a former USA Today reporter who refused to identify sources for his stories about the 2001 anthrax attacks. The sources had to do with the investigation of former Army scientist Steven Hatfill. Hatfill sued the federal government for violating his privacy by talking to reporters and this came after the government leaked his name in connection with the anthrax attacks.

Toni Locy, the former USA Today reporter, had been ordered by a judge to personally pay the fines unless she identified officials who discussed with Steven Hatfill. Locy said she couldn’t remember, but U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton ordered her to identify all her sources who discussed any aspect of the anthrax case. When Locy refused, Walton placed her in contempt and ordered the fines. Since then, Hatfill has been awarded $5.8 million to settle the Justice Department lawsuit.

Five people were killed and 17 sickened when anthrax was mailed to Capitol Hill lawmakers and members of the media just weeks after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. After the attacks, Attorney General John Ashcroft called Hatfill “a person of interest” in the investigation, and stories by various reporters, including Toni Locy, followed. Hatfill had previously worked at the Army’s infectious diseases laboratory from 1997 to 1999. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit threw out the contempt order on Monday, dismissing the case of Locy.

Locy, a former reporter at numerous news organizations, teaches journalism at Washington and Lee University in Lexington now. However, she’s not out of this yet, as the decision can still be appealed. Bruce Ivins, the Army scientists eventually accused of carrying out the 2001 anthrax attacks, committed suicide in July as prosecutors prepared to charge him in the attacks.