CHICAGO (WBBM) - There's a call for Ill. Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan to open new trials for police torture victims under former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge.
WBBM's Jennifer O'Neill reports.
A few dozen activists picketed in front of Loyola University's Beane Hall last night ahead of a speech by Madigan.
The Campaign to End the Death Penalty, which organized the protest, says Burge has been implicated in the torture of more than 100 black men between 1973 and 1991.
Some officers who worked under him are also accused of torturing men to get them to confess.
Students and family members of torture victims also took part in the picket.
Madigan was appointed special prosecutor of the torture cases back in 2002, but her office says it can only prosecute cases in which the alleged victims have petitioned the court to ask for new trials.
Madigan's office says of the 25 torture cases to which it's been appointed, 11 have been resolved and the others are still under litigation.
The picketers, however, say Madigan has failed to initiate a single evidentiary hearing for a torture victim in the six years since she was appointed special prosecutor.
The Campaign to End the Death Penalty says last summer, the Cook County Board passed a resolution calling on Madigan to initiation hearings for all Chicago police torture victims.
E-Mail Story
Print Story
