Ex-reporter can guard her sources in Georgia case

A federal judge decided last week that Georgia’s shield law protects a former Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter from having to reveal her sources, as requested by a journalism professor in his invasion of privacy lawsuit.

According to the Journal-Constitution, Kelly Simmons reported in 2005 on sexual harassment allegations against University of Georgia professor John Soloski. He has since sued the school claiming fraud, breach of contract and invasion of privacy.

Senior U.S. District Judge Martin Shoob found Soloski’s attorneys had not exhausted "all reasonable alternative sources to find out who leaked the story to the AJC" — information the judge deemed unnecessary, anyway, the newspaper said.