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Last month a jury decided that former columnist Bill Page and the Kane County Chronicle had libeled Thomas in three 2003 columns. It would have been a nice thing for anyone who takes seriously the dignity of the courts if Thomas at that point had declared that his reputation had been restored, the money wasn’t important, and it was time for the Illinois judiciary to put the litigation behind it. Indeed, Thomas did offer terms; but Page says the offer was a remarkably ungenerous: $6 million plus a retraction. Page and the Chronicle didn’t respond.
Page’s columns accused Thomas of playing politics in a 2003 disciplinary case before the supreme court that involved Meg Gorecki, at the time the Kane Count state’s attorney. Thomas allegedly got the court to go easy on Gorecki, and in return her political supporters endorsed a judicial candidate Thomas favored. But Page couldn’t produce witnesses who backed up his columns – his says his sources were confidential and they refused to come out of hiding.
