Justice Served: The Arrest of Jon Burge

On October 21, 2008, Cmdr. Jon Burge was arrested at his home near Tampa, FL on charges of lying in a civil case about whether he and other officers under his command tortured and physically abused suspects in police custody dating back to the 1980s. Burge was charged with two counts of obstruction of justice and one count of perjury in a three-count indictment unsealed today following his arrest. 

The indictment alleges that Burge lied and impeded court proceedings in November 2003 when he provided false written answers to questions in a civil lawsuit alleging that he and others engaged in torture and abuse of suspects. 

At a news conference in Chicago, U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said the charges show that Burge "broke the law when he was supposed to uphold it," and warned that others who lied about torture could eventually be charged. The case marks the beginning of the Burge prosecution, he said, but "it is not the end of the investigation of torture and abuse."

Read Press Releases Midwest Coalition members and partners who have been at the forefront of bringing the Burge torture cases to justice:

Joey Mogul of The People's Law Office
Jewish Council on Urban Affairs
Amnesty International

Read the full Burge Indictment
Read the U.S. Department of Justice's Press Release

Members of the Midwest Coalition have been working for decades to bring the Burge torture cases to justice. Below is some background information on our work to this day.

Background

In May 1972, John Burge was promoted to Chicago Police Detective and was assigned to the Area Two detective division on the south side of Chicago. Area Two serves a mostly African-American community, and it is here that the military training in torture he received in Vietnam first began to arise in the context of his police work. Burge was promoted to Sergeant of Area Two in 1977 and to Lieutenant in 1981. He was then also placed in charge of the Violent Crimes Unit.

Burge’s torture techniques included beatings with telephone books, suffocation with typewriter covers, alligator clips attached to an individual’s ears, noses, mouths, and exposed genitals; electric shock, handcuffing arrestees to radiators and burning them, and mock executions.

During Burge’s twenty-one years (1972-1993) with the CPD, 135 African-American males were allegedly tortured at Area Two in order to obtain confessions. In most of these cases, the States Attorneys’ Office was aware of the allegations, and nonetheless used the coerced evidence in hearings and criminal trials to convict the victims and send them to prison.

Burge now lives in comfortable retirement in Florida and receives a $3,000.00 per month pension, paid for by Cook County taxpayers.

Midwest Coalition's Involvement

In April 2006, the Midwest Coalition was a signatory to In the Shadows of the War on Terror, a report prepared for the UN Committee Against Torture by NGOs concerned with police brutality in the United States. The report contains information about the Burge cases as well as about police use of tasers.

At the May 2006 session of the Committee Against Torture, Joey Mogul of the People’s Law Office in Chicago briefed UN Committee members on the Burge cases on behalf of the Midwest Coalition. A report was submitted to Chairman Mavrommatis regarding the matter and the U.S. government representatives were questioned about the government’s failure to prosecute the cases.

The government’s response was that a special prosecutor had been appointed to investigate the cases. Yet, as the Committee soon realized, nothing had happened since that prosecutor was first appointed four years ago and there have not been any criminal indictments nor have any officers been prosecuted.

In its concluding report, the UN Committee Against Torture noted its concerns about the impunity that exists within the Chicago Police Department and called on the U.S. to “promptly, thoroughly and impartially” investigate the allegations.

Bringing Cases to the Inter-American Commission

The Midwest Coalition has also worked to bring the Burge torture cases to the attention of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). In August 2005, the Coalition joined a number of human rights organizations, bar associations, attorneys and community activists in sending a letter to the IACHR asking the Commission to hold a hearing on the cases. The request was granted and a hearing was held in October 2005. Presenters, including Midwest Coalition members, introduced evidence of the use of torture and demonstrated how high ranking officials in the Chicago police department and in the local prosecutor’s office had failed to take action despite having received concrete, credible information concerning that torture.

Several months after the hearing, Midwest Coalition members and other organizations sent a memorandum to the Commission requesting, among other things, a site visit to investigate the Burge cases further. This was followed by a letter directly from a Midwest Coalition representative requesting a site visit from the IACHR and/or the Special Rapporteur on Persons of African Descent and Against Racial Discrimination.

Outcomes

The Cook County Board of Commissioners held a public hearing on July 10, 2007 to discuss issues raised by the report released by Special Prosecutors’ Edward Egan and Robert Boyle. 

Commissioner Earlean Collins sponsored four resolutions to the Board of Commissioners for that meeting. The four resolutions were as follows:

• The Cook County Board recommend the United States Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Illinois investigate and prosecute any and all federal crimes committed by former Commander Jon Burge and his men from Area 2 and 3 Police Headquarters;
• The Cook County Board recommend Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan initiate new hearings for the 26 African American torture victims who remain convicted and incarcerated;
• The Cook County Board recommend the legislature of the State of Illinois and the United States Congress pass laws that criminalize the act of torture and that these laws have no statute of limitations; and
• The Cook County Board discontinues any further monetary payments to Special Prosecutors Egan and Boyle for any investigation in the Chicago Police Torture cases.

The Cook County Board unanimously passed the first three resolutions sponsored, while sending the fourth to a litigation committee. A hearing was held to address this issue, but the Special Prosecutors failed to show up to that hearing.

On July 19, 2007, the Chicago City Council introduced Mayor Daley’s ordinance establishing a new city agency, the Office of Professional Standards, to investigate matters of police abuse. 

On July 24, 2007 the Chicago City Council held hearings (similar to the County hearings) regarding the $7 million special investigation into the police torture cases. They also discussed their concerns regarding the fact that the City of Chicago continues to pay for the legal defense of Burge in civil cases alleging his torture, and that the City continues to pay Burge’s full pension despite his being dismissed in 1993.

On January 10, 2008, ending what one alderman called "a horrible chapter in the city's history," the Chicago City Council approved settlements totaling as much as $19.8 million with four men who said they were tortured into murder confessions by Jon Burge and those under his command.

"This city still owes [an apology to] these people, who spent years in prison and some on Death Row, who were tortured in ways that put Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay to shame," said Ald. Howard Brookins Jr. after the settlement was announced. "On behalf of the City Council and the corporation counsel, we apologize to all of you."

The Jon Burge Trial

Four years after the Midwest Coalition for Human Rights briefed the United Nations Committee Against Torture on the the Burge torture cases, the federal trial of Jon Burge commenced. Burge, former Chicago police commander who tortured hundreds of suspects in the 1970’s and 1980’s, was tried at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago. He was convicted on two counts of obstruction of justice and one count of perjury for having lied about his participation in and knowledge of the torture of suspects under his control. It was the first time Burge faced criminal charges relating to the Chicago Police Torture Cases; the statute of limitations on allegations of torture in this matter has expired.

MCHR weekly reporting on the 2010 Jon Burge trial

Week One Trial Report: May 24 - May 28, 2010

Week Two Trial Report: May 31 - June 4, 2010

Week Three Trial Report: June 7 - June 11, 2010

Week Four Trial Report: June 14 - June 18, 2010

Leading Up to the Verdict: June 21 - June 29, 2010

John Conroy's Blog on the Jon Burge Trial

John Conroy, former reporter for the Chicago Reader, covered the Jon Burge trial and wrote frequent and insightful blog entries on the trial proceedings. His blogs can be accessed at: http://blogs.vocalo.org/blog/wbez/burge-trial

Sources:
Background information on the cases can be found at the University of Chicago Human Rights Program’s Chicago Police Torture Archive; "Fitzgerald: Others could be charged in Burge case." The Chicago Tribune, 10/21/08.