Ill. Chief Justice Settles Defamation Suit Against Newspaper for $3M

The Associated Press

October 15, 2007

The chief justice of Illinois has agreed to a $3 million settlement after winning a libel lawsuit against a suburban Chicago newspaper and its former columnist, the columnist said Thursday.

An attorney for Illinois Chief Justice Robert Thomas released a statement claiming that Tom Shaw, who is president and chief executive of the Kane County Chronicle, and columnist Bill Page had apologized to him.

"The newspaper regrets publishing statements that the jury found to be false and in relying on sources who, based on the jury verdict, provided information that was not true regarding Mr. Thomas' role" in the case that Page wrote about, according to the news release from Thomas' lawyer, Joseph Power.

Page confirmed the settlement amount but denied he had apologized.

"That apology runs after my signature," he said. "I stand by everything I wrote, and I would repeat it. I'm not backing down from this."

Kristen Turner, managing editor of the newspaper, referred questions to Shaw Suburban Media Group Inc., which owns the newspaper. Shaw, who also is president and CEO of Shaw Newspapers, a Shaw Media subsidiary, could not be reached for comment.

The chief justice was satisfied with the settlement, Power said.

"They've apologized for what they have done. The case is over," he said.

Page wrote a series of columns in 2003 accusing Thomas of softening his position in a disciplinary hearing of a prosecutor after her supporters backed a judicial candidate he favored.

A jury ruled in favor of Thomas, a former Chicago Bears kicker, last November and ordered the newspaper and the columnist to pay $7 million. The defendants contested the amount.