• Press Release

Burge is Being Released From Prison While Those he Tortured Continue to Suffer

October 2, 2014

WHAT:        
On Oct. 2nd convicted, former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge is scheduled to be released from prison to a halfway house, while those he was responsible for torturing have not been provided any redress to recover from the torture they endured.  A press conference will be held with Alder attorneys, activists and Burge torture survivors who are calling on the City Council and Mayor Emmanuel to pass the ordinance providing Reparations for the Chicago Police Torture survivors.
 
WHEN:
Thursday, October 2, 2014, 9:30 am
 
WHERE:          
City Hall, 2nd Floor
 
WHO:              
Aldermen Joe Moreno, Joe Moore and Roderick Sawyer; Torture Survivor Anthony Holmes, Joey Mogul and Flint Taylor of the People’s Law Office, Alice Kim and Adam Green of the Chicago Torture Justice Memorial Project (CTJM) and Ernest Coverson of Amnesty International, USA. 
 
WHY:              
Tomorrow, Burge is being released from prison and given the opportunity to begin his life anew with the benefit of his police pension funded by Chicago taxpayers’ money.  Yet, scores of Chicago Police Torture survivors continue to suffer from the psychological effects of the torture they endured without any compensation, assistance, or any legal recourse for redress.
 
The Ordinance providing Reparations to the Chicago Police Torture Survivors is pending in the Finance Committee and there are 25 Alderpeople who support its passage.  It is time for City Council and Mayor Emmanuel to pass the ordinance and provide the torture survivors and their family members the recognition, compensation and services they deserve.
 
The Ordinance serves as a formal apology to the survivors; creates a Commission to administer financial compensation to the survivors; creates a medical and psychological center on the south side of Chicago; provides free enrollment in City Colleges to the survivors; requires Chicago Public schools to teach a history lesson about the cases; requires the City to fund public memorials about the cases; and sets aside $20 million to finance this redress, the same amount of money the City has spent to defend Burge, other detectives and former Mayor Richard M. Daley in the Chicago Police torture cases.