Weekly Edition

4th Circuit rules against man in anthrax lawsuit

A federal appeals court has ruled against a former Army scientist who sued The New York Times over columns linking him to the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks.

A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said last week that Steven Hatfill was a public figure, and therefore had to prove that The Times published articles about him with reckless disregard for the truth. The court said Hatfill failed to meet that burden.

Five people were killed and 17 sickened in the anthrax attacks. Then-Attorney General John Ashcroft at one point publicly identified Hatfill as a “person of interest” in the investigation.

Columnist Nicholas Kristof criticized the FBI’s investigation as lackadaisical and initially referred to Hatfill as “Mr. Z.” Kristof identified Hatfill by name only after Hatfill held a news conference to denounce rumors.

The 4th Circuit decision came less than three weeks after the federal government agreed to pay Hatfill $5.82 million to settle his claim that the FBI and the Justice Department had invaded his privacy and ruined his career in the anthrax investigation.

© Copyright 2009, by Virginia Lawyers Media, all rights reserved