The Chicago Torture Archive
October 28, 2016 8:08 AM   Subscribe

Between 1972 and 1991, over 100 African American men were tortured by Chicago Police Department (CPD) officers in order to force confessions, drive them to incriminate co-defendants or to intimidate possible witnesses to police brutality. A 10,000 document collection, the Chicago Torture Archive is now online. The massive collection includes related documentation of interrogations, criminal-trial files, civil-litigation documents, works of journalism, and records of activism.

From the site:
"During two decades beginning in 1972, over 100 African American men were brutally tortured at by Chicago Police officers under the command of Jon Burge. After decades of litigation and activism by the torture survivors, their lawyers, family members, journalists, artists, and other allies, the Chicago City Council brought some closure to the cases with the passage of an historic Reparations ordinance in June 2015. Among other provisions, the Reparations Ordinance mandates that the Chicago Public Schools teach students about these cases and their legacy.

This website is a resource created by the Pozen Family Center for Human Rights of the almost 10,000 documents collected by the People’s Law Office on the trials, interrogations, and other court proceedings involving the victims of Chicago Police torture.

The recent ordinance issued by the Chicago City Council on May 6, 2015 requires that Chicago police torture history be incorporated into the Chicago Public School curriculum."
Background
* Previously on Metafilter:
- (2008) Before Abu Ghraib, there was Area 2
- (2010) "Today is a victory for every poor person": Jon Burge found guilty
- (2012) "Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history": Illinois abolishes the death penalty
--
* Chicago Sun Times: Chicago pays $5.5M in reparations to 57 Burge torture victims
* City of Chicago Reparations for Burge Torture Victims - Frequently Asked Questions
* NPR: Decades Later, Victims Of Chicago Police Torture Paid Reparations
* ChicagoTorture.org: Chicago Torture Justice Memorials (CTJM)
* In These Times: How Activists Won Reparations for the Survivors of Chicago Police Department Torture
* Wikipedia: Jon Burge
"Jon Graham Burge (born December 20, 1947) is a convicted felon and former Chicago Police Department detective and commander who gained notoriety for torturing more than 200 criminal suspects between 1972 and 1991 in order to force confessions. A decorated United States Army veteran, Burge served tours in South Korea and Vietnam and continued as an enlisted United States Army Reserve soldier where he served in the military police. He then returned to the South Side of Chicago and began his career as a police officer. Allegations were made about the methods of Burge and those under his command. Eventually, hundreds of similar reports resulted in a decision by Illinois Governor George Ryan to declare a moratorium on death penalty executions in Illinois in 2000 and to clear the state's death row in 2003."
posted by zarq (3 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: poster's request -- cortex



 
Forgot the "Via" link from The Atlantic: A Digital Archive Documents Two Decades of Torture by Chicago Police
posted by zarq at 8:16 AM on October 28, 2016


Great post, but I get this page:

Chicago Torture Archive

Thank you for your interest in the Chicago Torture Archive. The documents that comprise the archive are currently under review to ensure the privacy of torture survivors and others involved with these cases. We hope to release the documents to the public by early 2017. Please check back with us then. We apologize for the inconvenience.
posted by LarryC at 9:57 AM on October 28, 2016 [2 favorites]


Damn. WHY would they post documents without first vetting them for privacy concerns?

Thanks for letting us know, LarryC. I sent a note in to the mods via the contact form.
posted by zarq at 10:23 AM on October 28, 2016


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