How Activists Won Reparations for the Survivors of Chicago Police Department Torture
A history of the movement to make Chicago pay for the crimes of former police commander Jon Burge.
A history of the movement to make Chicago pay for the crimes of former police commander Jon Burge.
BY Flint Taylor
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| Chicago activists pay tribute to the over 110 black men tortured by Chicago police officers as they call for the city to pass the reparations ordinance. (Sarah-Ji / Flickr) |
The 20-year reign of police torture that was orchestrated by Commander Jon Burge-and implicated former Mayor Richard M. Daley and a myriad of high ranking police and prosecutorial officials-has haunted Chicago for decades. In These Times has covered Burge and the movement to achieve a modicum of justice for his victims very closely over the years (you can read our past coverage here, here, here, here, and here). Finally, on May 6, 2015, in response to a movement that has spanned a generation, the Chicago City Council formally recognized this sordid history by passing historic legislation that provides reparations to the survivors of police torture in Chicago.
The achievement was monumental. And given that today is the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, it seems like an apt time to reflect on the history of this movement-and how it won.
Reparations' beginnings
The right to financial compensation and full rehabilitation for Chicago police torture survivors who had no legal recourse was first raised in September 2005 by the Midwest Coalition for Human Rights in a submission to the UN Committee Against Torture, (CAT). The next May, Joey Mogul, an attorney at the People's Law Office (where I work) again raised these issues to the CAT when she appeared before it. The call was taken up by Black People Against Police Torture, a grassroots organization, and its leader, attorney Standish Willis, who demanded, as part of their campaign against the 2016 Olympics being held in Chicago, that Mayor Richard M. Daley and the city of Chicago make a formal apology to all Chicago police torture survivors and provide financial compensation and psychological services to them.
