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Thomas sued on grounds that Page defamed him in three 2003 columns that accused Thomas of playing politics with a disciplinary case before the supreme court — “political shimmy-shammy” is how Page put it. Thomas won the jury trial a year ago (scroll down) and was awarded $7 million, a sum trial judge Donald O’Brien later sliced to $4 million. Libel litigation often doesn’t really get going until the appeals phase, which is when the Chronicle brought in a big gun from Washington, celebrated First Amendment attorney Bruce Sanford. The settlement, hammered out before U.S. magistrate Sidney Schenkier, knocks the award down to $3 million and turns off Sanford’s meter. “An accounting decision,” says Page. The lawyers agreed to keep the amount private, but Page didn’t see any reason for that and immediately announced it.
I asked Thomas’s attorney, Joseph Power, what he made of Sanford’s lawyering. “I think it bordered on sanctionable conduct,” Power said. “In federal court when you file frivolous actions you can be sanctioned and fined.” He said the federal suit “seemed like the kind of action a mentally deficient pro se defendant would file.”
