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</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Today, July 10, 2007,
the Cook County Board unanimously passed three Chicago Police torture
resolutions sponsored by Commissioner Earlean Collins while sending a
fourth to committee. The three resolutions resolved as follows:<br><br>
<b>1. The Cook County Board of Commissioners fully support any action
taken by the United States Attorney’s of the Northern District of
Illinois in the investigation and prosecution of any and all federal
crimes allegedly committed by Burge and his men. <br><br>
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2. The Cook County Board of Commissioners recommends that the Illinois
Attorney General initiate new hearings for the twenty-six Chicago Police
torture victims who were wrongfully convicted and remain incarcerated in
the State of Illinois.<br><br>
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3. The Cook County Board of Commissioners recommends to the legislature
of the State of Illinois and the Congress of the United States to pass
legislation explicitly proscribing the crime of torture as defined by
Article I of the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and Punishment and provide that
there be no statute of limitations for this crime.<br><br>
</b></font>The fourth resolution, which was sent to the Litigation
subcommittee for a hearing at which Special Prosecutors Boyle and Egan
will be required to appear, a courtesy which they refused the Board when
it held its June 13th hearing into the alleged failures of their
investigation, resolves that:<br>
<br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3><b>The Cook County Board of
Commissioners discontinue any future payments to Special Prosecutors
Edward Egan and Robert Boyle for any and all expenses incurred for the
investigation of allegations of abuse by Commander Jon Burge and men
under his command</b></font>.<br><br>
The three resolutions which passed were cosponsored by Commissioners Joan
Patricia Murphy, Mike Quigley, Deborah Sims, Robert Steele, Larry
Suffredin, Anthony Peraica, and Jerry Butler. The entire Board
cosponsored the resolution calling for a new crime of torture without a
statute of limitations. At a press conference held before the
resolutions were passed, and at their subsequent introduction on the
floor, Commissioners Collins, Steele, Claypool, Peraica, and Suffredin,
and County Clerk Davis Orr spoke strongly in support of this "very
important issue concerning public safety" and repeatedly called for
the federal indictment of Burge and other alleged torturers. <br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3> <br><br>
These resolutions were a response to a public hearing convened by
Commissioner Collins on June 13, 2007 of the Criminal Justice Committee
of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. The hearing was held to
address issues raised by the recent report released by Special
Prosecutors Egan and Boyle assigned to investigate possible criminal
prosecutions in the Chicago Police Torture case.<br><br>
<br><br>
After a four-year investigation that cost Cook County taxpayers $7
million, Special Prosecutors Egan and Boyle sought no indictments against
Burge or other detectives, despite acknowledging that there was evidence
beyond a reasonable doubt that certain individuals had been abused by
Burge and other Area 2 and 3 detectives under his command. The Special
Prosecutors claimed that the statute of limitations under Illinois law
barred prosecution. However, as raised in the report entitled <i>Report
On The Failure Of Special Prosecutors Edward J. Egan And Robert D. Boyle
To Fairly Investigate Systemic Police Torture In Chicago</i>, Burge and
other officers can and should be indicted for their alleged crimes of
perjury and obstruction of justice committed within the past four years.
212 human rights, civil rights, and criminal justice organizations and
individuals endorsed this "shadow" torture report. <br><br>
<br><br>
Meanwhile, the victims of these crimes and international human rights
violations continue to suffer, particularly the 26 African American men
who remain behind bars due to wrongful convictions based in whole or in
part on coerced confessions obtained by acts of torture. These men are
entitled to have new hearings that raise issues of their torture.
<br><br>
<br><br>
For more information on the Chicago Police Torture cases, a copy of the
report cited above go to
<a href="http://www.peopleslawoffice.com/">www.peopleslawoffice.com</a>
or
<a href="http://www.law.northwestern.edu/wrongfulconvictions" eudora="autourl">
http://www.law.northwestern.edu/wrongfulconvictions</a> or to view
footage of the June 13<sup>th</sup> hearing go to Google for
<a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7235577585903007387&hl=en">
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7235577585903007387&hl=en</a>
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