Toni Locy

Professor Locy was a journalist for 25 years who reported and wrote for some of the nation’s biggest and best news organizations, specializing in the coverage of federal, state and local law enforcement, the federal trial and appellate courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court. 

In 2008 a federal judge held her in contempt of court for refusing to reveal the identities of confidential sources who provided information for stories she wrote for USA Today about the FBI’s investigation into the deadly 2001 anthrax attack. Eventually the U.S. Justice Department settled a civil lawsuit filed by scientist Steven Hatfill and the judge vacated the contempt order against Professor Locy.

Education

• B.S. in Journalism, West Virginia University, 1981 (cum laude)
• Master’s Degree in the Studies of Law, University of Pittsburgh School of Law, 2007 (high honors)

Research

"Covering America’s Courts: A Clash of Rights,” a journalism textbook on covering the courts and the law, published by Peter Lang Publishing Inc., February 2013

Teaching

• Journalism 101--Introduction to Mass Communications
• Journalism 190--Information Sources in the Digital Age
• Journalism 201--Introduction to Reporting
• Journalism 202--Introduction to Digital Journalism (See students’ work)
• Journalism 280--Covering Courts and the Law (See students’ work on The Preliminary Hearing website)
• Journalism 295--National Security v. Freedom of Speech and the Press
• Journalism 301--Law and Communications
• Journalism 303--Covering Great Trials in History: The Impact of the Press and the Public on Justice
• Journalism 320--Covering Crime & Justice: A Practicum (See students’ work during Spring Term 2010)
• Journalism 341--Multimedia Storytelling Design: How’d They Do That?
  • W&L at a Crossroads: Direction of Diversity is not Always Black and White
  • A Hell of a Ride: I-81 Gives as Much as It Takes
  • From Country to Campus: Third-Year Housing Shifts W&L’s Storied Social Scene
• Journalism 356--In-Depth Reporting
• Writing 100--Raking Muck

Selected Publications

Wrote at least 4,000 bylined stories about everything from organized labor in Pittsburgh and the Mafia in Philadelphia to the State House in Boston and the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington.

Experience as a Journalist

• The Associated Press, U.S. Supreme Court and national legal affairs beat reporter, November 2005 to August 2006
  
  
• USA Today, Justice Department beat reporter, September 2000 to October 2005
  
  
• U.S. News & World Report, national investigative team, March 1999 to August 2000
  
  
• The Washington Post, metro projects team and federal courts beat reporter, June 1994 to March 1999
  
  
• The Boston Globe, metro projects team and State House beat reporter, January 1990 to May 1994
  
  
• The Philadelphia Daily News, City Hall and crime & justice beat reporter, February 1986 to January 1990
  
  
• The Pittsburgh Press, federal courts and organized labor beat reporter, June 1981 to February 1986