Chicago to Pay $32 Million Settlement in Police Misconduct Claims

By Jeralyn, Section Misconduct
Posted on Thu Jan 17, 2013 at 07:44:21 PM EST
Tags: Jon Burge, police misconduct (all tags)

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The Chicago City Council today unanimously approved payments of $32 million to pay two claims of police misconduct.

A mentally ill woman, Christina Eilman, will get $22.5 million.

Christina Eilman now suffers severe brain damage after police ignored pleas for help from her out-of-town family and turned the mentally ill woman lose in one of Chicago's most crime-ridden neighborhoods. She was raped and either fell or was pushed out of a seventh floor window.

Alton Logan will get $10.2 million for the 26 years he spent in prison for a crime he didn't commit. did not commit. [More...]

Since 1998:

Cases relating to police misconduct under [now-convicted former Area 2 Commander Jon] Burge alone have cost the city $63 million. In the last decade, the city spent $82.5 million defending officers against misconduct charges.

More cases are pending:

With having so many Burge cases at our throats, it makes it very difficult to even predict a regular number," Austin said.

More here. Burge is serving a federal four and one half year perjury sentence. The Chicago Police Torture Archive has more.

Between the years of 1972 and 1991, approximately 135 African-American men and women were arrested and tortured at the hands of former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge and officers under his command at Area 2 police headquarters. Some of these victims were as young as thirteen years old. Various court cases have established that the methods of torture used in the interrogation of suspects included electric shock to the ears and genitalia, mock executions, suffocation, and burning. While Jon Burge was ultimately fired by the Chicago Police Department, not a single perpetrator of the tortures has ever been criminally prosecuted.

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Chicago to Pay $32 Million Settlement in Police Misconduct Claims | 4 comments (4 topical)

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Wow (none / 0) (#1)
by vicndabx on Fri Jan 18, 2013 at 12:23:18 PM EST

Where is the outrage over torture here in the US?

You know there... (none / 0) (#2)
by sj on Mon Jan 21, 2013 at 10:24:10 AM EST

... is lots of outrage over torture here in the US, right? Just read responses to whatever the latest taser incident or unjustified shooting.

The problem is not the outrage, IMO. The problem is that the voiced outrage is not provided amplification by the mass media.

In my opinion.


Another major problem is that (none / 0) (#3)
by MO Blue on Mon Jan 21, 2013 at 10:34:52 AM EST

the U.S. has renamed torture and justified its use. IOW, has given it the national approval seal of approval. The media, members of both parties and their staunchest supporters have supported newly this named torture using the guise of national security to justify its use and their support.

: Yep (5.00 / 1) (#4)
by sj on Mon Jan 21, 2013 at 10:45:52 AM EST

How often do you see "enhanced interrogation techniques" when what is being discussed is actually torture under the Geneva conventions? Words are powerful. They express concepts and shape perception. It's a big deal.
Slighty OT: You know, I understand about the need for polarities: eg. you can't understand tall if you don't know short, you can't understand kindness if you've never known harm, etc. But I really hope the polarity to today's USA society starts showing up soon.