Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Feds catch up with Burge

Today's round up will start with the Tribune:
More than three decades after allegations surfaced that Chicago police detectives routinely tortured murder suspects, retired Cmdr. Jon Burge was arrested Tuesday at his Florida home on charges that he testified falsely about the brutality.

The perjury and obstruction of justice counts against Burge mark the first criminal charges in the long-running scandal. But a dozen or more officers once under Burge's command who have denied under oath taking part in the alleged torture could be in legal peril as well.

The indictment of the 60-year-old Burge breathes new life into a scandal that has had a stubborn hold on the Police Department and the city and involves claims of abuse—electric shock, Russian roulette and suffocation with bags and typewriter covers. The allegations continue to figure prominently in the appeals of dozens of inmates.

Much of the scandal grew out of some of the most brutal crimes. Andrew Wilson was allegedly tortured after his arrest for the murder of two Chicago police officers in 1982. Madison Hobley made similar allegations after he was charged in a 1987 arson that killed his wife, young child and five others. Hobley was sentenced to Death Row, but was pardoned and set free by Gov. George Ryan.

The allegations also raised questions about the conduct of Mayor Richard Daley, who was Cook County state's attorney in the 1980s when much of the alleged torture took place, and current State's Atty. Richard Devine, whose office continued to oppose the inmates' allegations of torture.

It has cost taxpayers nearly $30 million in lawsuit settlements and legal fees paid by the city to numerous lawyers who have represented the police officers.

The indictment comes two years after a special Cook County prosecutor, following a lengthy and expensive investigation, concluded that Burge and his officers coerced dozens of confessions by torturing criminal suspects. But they held that no one could be criminally charged because statutes of limitations for the abuse had long passed.

But federal authorities charged Burge for his denials of the torture, not the decades-old torture itself. In written answers he submitted in November 2003 as part of a federal lawsuit filed by Hobley, Burge denied he took part in torture or knew of physical violence by officers under his command in the 1980s at Calumet Area headquarters on the South Side. That amounted to perjury and obstruction of justice, prosecutors contend.
The Daley component has always been there since he was State's Attorney in the 1980s. You can read some examples in the Chicago Reader blog, Chicagoland. I'm choosing not to excerpt because it wouldn't do that piece justice.

On the other hand you can look at consistent Daley critic John Kass wrote in his column about the Burge indictment news:
Mayor Richard Daley had nothing to do with promoting Jon Burge—the alleged torturer police commander—who was indicted on perjury and obstruction of justice counts announced by U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald.

Daley was not the mayor in the 1980s when the torturing allegedly happened. He wasn't even a sovereign lord, just the Cook County state's attorney campaigning for mayor as the "law and order" candidate.

But because his lawgiver image as a tough prosecutor was burnished by convictions won through tortured confessions, is it unreasonable to ask: What did Daley do—or not do—about Burge back then?

"I was not the mayor," Daley insisted, not chuckishly, but clearly irritated while speaking at the Sweet Miss Giving's Bakery on the Near North Side. Sweet Miss Giving's received city grants to employ homeless people with HIV, and the mayor was there to take credit and sample a muffin while behind him was the bakery's motto: "Unquestionably kind, unreasonably good."

With Burge just arrested by the FBI in Florida, Daley tried to be reasonable, at first, pushing his irritation down inside him, into some tiny hidden place as the bakery staff prepared to serve tasty muffins, scones and scrumptious macaroons. Eventually, he became exasperated with the questions because he didn't like the answers.

"I was not the mayor. Wait. Wait. There's nothing in the indictment. You're mixing apples and oranges . . . you're doing a great disservice," Daley said. "I'm very proud of my role as prosecutor. I was not the mayor. I was not the police chief. I did not promote this man in the '80s. Let's put everything in perspective," the mayor said.
...
But in 1982, State's Atty. Daley received a letter from Chicago Police Supt. Richard Brzeczek, saying there was evidence that a murder suspect had been tortured in Calumet Area detective headquarters on the South Side where Burge was the big shoes.

Instead of opening his own investigation and convening a grand jury like he did to investigate Byrne's towing contracts at City Hall, Daley decided to be reasonable. He reasoned that white cops vote in elections, and he wanted their vote. So he did the prudent thing: nothing.
That column would be worth the read. Found via Newsalert!

Here's an article from Sun-Times that showed that while Mayor Daley at first offered to apologize to torture victims, he ultimately changed his tune on that. He refused to accept responsibility for his unwillingness to investigate these allegations. Sounds like he had a rough day yesterday!

Another angle, also another column from Neal Steinberg via Newsalert.The Fraternal Order of Police believes that Burge got a raw deal. He almost got himself on a float for the South Side St. Patrick's Day Parade, but were forced to withdraw at the request of parade organizers.

Now another angle is that some victims are speaking out from WBBM-TV:
The alleged victims of former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge are speaking out tonight, after Burge was arrested Tuesday in Florida on federal charges of lying about torture.

Burge has long been the focus of allegations of beating and shocking confessions out of dozens of African-American suspects in the 1970s and 80s in Chicago.
...
It was long believed that Burge could not be prosecuted because of the statute of limitations. CBS 2's Mike Parker spoke to some of Burge's alleged victims who have been waiting decades for this day to arrive.

"It pleases me to see that Burge got locked up and I hope they give him as much time as done gave all us," said torture victim Anthony Holmes.

Five men who collectively spent more than 100 years in state prisons after being tortured into giving false confessions appeared with local ministers and attorneys to share their feelings about the Burge charges.
 I want to add finally that city alderman including our Alderman, wants see Burge's city pension paid back to the city. The Sun-Times article mentions that 5 Black Alderman sent a letter to US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald to pursue an investigation and indictment of Burge:
"This is the right thing to do. It's about fifteen years too late. But, I'm grateful. ... I hope he goes to jail and experiences all the hardship of the many people he sent to jail and that he's there for a long time," said Ald. Ed Smith (28th), former chairman of the City Council's Black Caucus who led the lobbying effort.

"We were upset the city was paying his fees and paying his [pension]. We tried to find a way to end all that. We made a lot of noise. We went to the U.S. attorney's office. ... I would like to think that our efforts played a role in all of this. At least we kept it in the forefront of their minds."

From Day One, Ald. Freddrenna Lyle (6th) said she has "always believed the evidence was there" to indict Burge. But, she was "doubtful there was a commitment to charge him."

Now, her faith in the system has been restored.

"When Commander Burge retired, the city could have objected to his pension. That did not occur. There was nothing we could do ten years later to stop him from getting his pension. That was like twisting the knife in the back that taxpayers were still rewarding him for his dishonorable service by giving him a check every month," Lyle said.
Well we've been hearing about this for years. Finally the allegations bore some fruit. There is an indictment and perhaps in a future trial we'll see if there could be enough for a conviction. Whatever happened back then it's great that these charges didn't stay swept under a rug and that we might get to the truth of the matter.

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