Jury Awards Illinois Supreme Court Justice $7 million in libel suit against Chronicle

The Daily Herald reports:

The chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court was awarded $7 million in damages by a Kane County jury today, three years after columns that accused him of political deal-making ran in the Kane County Chronicle.

The verdict was announced at about 1:30 p.m. The jury had deliberated for 4 1/2 hours Monday night and Tuesday morning.

Justice Robert Thomas claimed defamation in suing former columnist Bill Page along with Shaw Suburban Media Group.

Attorneys for Thomas asked the jury in closing arguments to award Thomas between $3.6 million and $7.7 million for economic losses and between $1 million and $2 million for emotional damages.

Page’s attorney, Stephen Rosenfeld, asked the jury to find for the paper or at least award Thomas only $1.

The lawsuit claimed two of the columns were libelous.

The columns accused Thomas of initially seeking disbarment for then-Kane County State’s Attorney Meg Gorecki in her ethics case as retribution for her running against the GOP pick in the 2000 primary. Gorecki’s ethics violation case - for offering a friend a county job in return for campaign contributions to another politician - was before the Supreme Court.

Page said Thomas backed away from a disbarment recommendation in exchange for prominent Kane County people agreeing to back Robert Spence, Thomas’ pick in an upcoming judicial race. Page called it a political “shimmy-shammy.” Gorecki was eventually suspended for four months, and Spence won the 2004 election.

In closing arguments for the more than two-week trial, attorneys painted Page and Thomas as power-hungry and driven.

No word yet from the New York Times on defending free speech.