From the Belleville News Democrat:

Posted on Sat, Jan. 12, 2008
Reporter found in contempt in Cueto lawsuit case
Refuses to testify in Cueto lawsuit
News-Democrat
A Belleville News-Democrat reporter was held in contempt on Friday after he refused to testify in former Belleville lawyer Amiel Cueto's lawsuit against the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Chicago Tribune and a political action committee.
Randolph County Associate Circuit Judge Richard Brown found News-Democrat reporter George Pawlaczyk in contempt when Pawlaczyk declined to answer questions in connection with Cueto's lawsuit against the newspapers and JUSTPAC, a political action committee funded by insurance companies and other business interests that lobby to cap damage awards.
Brown found Pawlaczyk in contempt in order to allow Pawlaczyk to appeal Brown's previous order compelling his testimony, said Joe Martineau, Pawlaczyk's lawyer.
"We support our reporter's actions today," said Jeffry Couch, the News-Democrat's executive editor. "Our strategy is to get this case before an appellate court, where we believe we will prevail."
Reporters fall under Illinois' special witness rule that requires those seeking a reporter's testimony to state what information they seek, why it is relevant and necessary to the action, and that they have exhausted all other avenues to get that information.
Reporters also have a special statute that allows them to refuse to answer questions related to sources used in news stories.
JUSTPAC ran an advertisement opposing Cueto's brother, St. Clair County Circuit Judge Lloyd Cueto, during the 2006 election, by using a 13-year-old claim made by Cueto's client Tom Venezia's son, Milan Venezia, that Cueto and another lawyer controlled 15 of 17 St. Clair County judges.
Cueto filed an invasion of privacy suit against JUSTPAC. Later, he sued the two newspapers over a 1995 news report and a 2003 editorial that JUSTPAC claimed were the sources of the statement it made in the campaign ad.
Cueto, a prominent figure in St. Clair County Democratic politics when he was indicted, gained notoriety during his conspiracy trial on charges he interfered with a federal gambling investigation into his client, Thomas Venezia. He was sentenced to seven years and four months in federal prison. The Illinois Supreme Court disbarred Cueto in 2004.
Brown ordered Pawlaczyk's deposition, but Pawlaczyk refused to testify, asserting his intention to stand on his privileges as a reporter. Brown found Pawlaczyk in contempt of court, then ordered a $10 fine. The fine was stayed pending an appeal to the 5th Appellate Court in Mount Vernon.
The appeal will be filed next week.