Kane County Chronicle files lawsuit against chief justice
By TOM MUSICK - tmusick@nwnewsgroup.com
The Kane County Chronicle filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the chief justice of the Illinois Supreme Court over a defamation verdict that the newspaper says it cannot fairly appeal.
Chief Justice Robert Thomas and other justices who testified in his favor have supervisory influence over the state’s appellate court system, attorney Steven P. Mandell said. Mandell represents Shaw Suburban Media Group, the Chronicle’s parent company, as well as former Chronicle columnist Bill Page.
In addition, Mandell said, the newspaper would have no second level of appeal beyond the Appellate Court because of Thomas’ role in the case.
A Kane County jury awarded $7 million to Thomas last November after the chief justice sued the Chronicle and Page over three columns written about him. The columns quoted confidential sources in criticizing how Thomas handled a misconduct case involving former Kane County State’s Attorney Meg Gorecki.
A judge later pared the award to $4 million, which Chronicle attorneys still deemed excessive. In the federal lawsuit, attorneys also have asked the court to dismiss Thomas’ award because the legal proceedings were unconstitutional, with one of the reasons being the same lack of appellate options.
“It’s simply not fair to the Chronicle defendants for the case to proceed in state court,” Mandell said. “We’re asking the federal court to recognize that there’s no way for the defendants to get a fair appeal in the state court system.”
Mandell said the lawsuit asked a federal judge to stop the case from proceeding in state court until Thomas and other justices involved in the trial no longer were on the bench.
Joe Power, an attorney for Thomas, called the newspaper’s claims “outrageous.” He said its attorneys never cited such conflicts as they argued the case unsuccessfully in front of a Kane County jury and a trial judge.
“I think it’s absurd,” Power said. “It seems a bit paranoid to me, and potentially an attempt to try to intimidate the court in suggesting that they can’t be fair.”
