An Illinois suburban newspaper filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on Tuesday against Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Thomas. The Kane County Chronicle and its columnist Bill Page claim they can not appeal a multi-million verdict the judge received last November because the judge heads the court. A jury awarded Justice Thomas $7 million in a defamation lawsuit. That award was reduced to $3 million by the trial court judge.

In reference to the lawsuit, plaintiff’s attorney Bruce Sanford said, “The core of it is that the newspaper and the columnist can simply not get a fair shake on appeal, and that deprives them of their civil rights.”

Source: http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/425189,thomas061207.article