City Room™ - News In Brief - No Money for New State Commission to Investigate Burge Torture Cases

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No Money for New State Commission to Investigate Burge Torture Cases
Produced by Rob Wildeboer on Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Protestors outside Cook County Courthouse in Chicago in 2006. (AP/File)

Imprisoned men who say they were tortured by Former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge have a new venue to air their cases.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn is putting together a commission for the express purpose of looking into so called Burge torture cases. Attorney Stan Willis helped write the legislation that created the commission and he represents alleged torture victims who are still in jail. He estimates that of the two dozen people in Illinois prisons who likely confessed to crimes only after they were tortured, more than half have used up all their appeals.

WILLIS: So they have no remedy. They would just do all the time and some of them are lifers. So this gives them another chance to get their cases heard.

Willis says it makes sense to revisit their claims of torture given what we now know about Burge who is set to go on trial next year for abusing arrestees. The 8 member commission will be unpaid but will be assisted by a paid staff -- office clerks and investigators -- though Willis says there's no state money yet to pay them.