FALSE CONFESSIONS EXTRACTED BY POLICE TORTURE IN CHICAGO

More than 100 protesters marched silently through the Loop Friday requesting the city take action against former Chicago Police Lt. Jon Burge and others involved in the torture of nearly 200 Black men. The alleged torture began in the early 1970s and ran through the early 1990s. Just two months after special prosecutors filed no charges following a detailed report on two decades of torture by officers at Areas 2 and 3 police stations to gain felony confessions, the victims' families and several advocacy groups are seeking action against Burge, officers under his command, then-Cook County States Attorney Richard M. Daley, and his assistant, now-States Attorney Dick Devine.

Friday's march began and ended at Federal Plaza with a stop at City Hall along the way. In front of City Hall, the marchers stood silent, highlighting the city's inaction, said Attorney Lawrence Kennon, who led the march. "We want to silently show that this is so deep that it's beyond words," said Kennon, who has represented several victims of police torture. Kennon said he and groups associated with bringing the alleged tortures to justice, will continue their fight with a plan to remove judges from the bench who sentenced men to prison after Burge and other officers tortured confessions out of them.

Special prosecutors Edward Egan and Robert Boyle in July released the findings of a four-year investigation and found charges could have been filed against Burge and about six other officers in at least three cases. However, the statute of limitations had long since run out.

As Friday's march ended at Federal Plaza, marchers stood and called out the names of torture victims including Aaron Patterson, sentenced to death in 1989 for the murder of a Hispanic couple.

Ald. Ed Smith (28th) Wednesday presented a resolution to the City Council calling for a settlement in Patterson's wrongful conviction lawsuit against the city. The council's Finance and Budget committees will consider the resolution. Patterson's conviction and sentence were primarily based on a confession obtained under physical duress by a group of Chicago Police officers under Burge's command, said Smith, who did not attend Friday's march. "I'm doing what I have to do and this is the right thing to do," Smith told the Defender Friday. "They know they have to pay him, but they're balking. Why not just pay the man? The city already spent $10 million on (investigating and defending) Burge."

Attorney Standish Willis, who helped organize the march, said he wants men still imprisoned as a result of ill-gotten confessions to be released and for the state to pay reparations to those men. "Next time, we will have all 27 men still incarcerated out here with us. That's how determined we are," Willis said.

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