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CONSTANCE A. "CONNIE" HOWARD
State Representative ~32nd District
The Honorable Janet Reno
U.S. Attorney General
950 Pennsylvania Av. NW
Washington DC 20530
Dear Attorney General Reno: July 19, 1999
We, the undersigned, are writing to request a federal probe by the Department of Justice into the Chicago Police Department (CPD) and the Cook County State's Attorney's office for what we believe is a systematic pattern of violating the civil rights of African-American citizens. Specifically, we are asking for a federal probe into the pattern and practice of police torture and alleged prosecutorial misconduct that has resulted in the confinement on Illinois' death row of at least ten torture victims, all African-American, of former police commander Jon Burge and/or officers under his command. These men have become known locally as the 'Death Row Ten". Of particular concern to US is the case of Aaron Patterson, one of the "Ten", who has spent the last decade of his life under sentence of death for a crime we believe he did not commit.
As you already may be aware, for a 15 year period, extending from the early 1970s to the late 1980s, Chicago was the site of one of the most horrific manifestations of police brutality anywhere in the country and at any point in U.S. police history: Area II police officers under the command of Jon Burge subjected detainees to extreme forms of torture, including electric shocks administered to the testicles, dry hood suffocation, and Russian roulette, among others. The purpose of the torture was to extract "confessions" from the detainees for unsolved crimes. Extensive investigations including by the CPD's Office of Professional Standards~verified the existence of this pattern of torture, involving at least 50 African-American victims. Burge and the officers under his command were all white.
Despite growing evidence in the 1980s of Burge's torture ring at Area 11, the Cook County State's Attorney during that period chose not to investigate the credible allegations of torture, resulting in Burge's immunity from prosecution. Though Burge was eventually fired, in large part due to public pressure, he was never prosecuted for his crimes nor, for that matter, were the officers under his command who were directly involved in administering the torture to suspects. Initially, two officers were fired along with Burge, but they were soon reinstated on the force and have since risen up the ranks. Numerous other torturers were never subjected to any discipline whatsoever.
While the Cook County State's Attorney's office during the 1980s chose not to prosecute Burge and his officers, it proceeded to prosecute Burge's victims, convicting many on the basis of fraudulent confessions and sending at least ten to Illinois death row where they remain today. The current Cook County State's Attorney, Richard Devine, has not made a decision thus far, to re-open most of these cases for new evidentiary hearings into their alleged confessions, opting instead to attempt to block the appeals of these men. There are several reasons which may explain the current State's Attorney's inactivity in reference to re-opening these cases: 1) Mr. Devine served as First Assistant State's Attorney in the 1980s when many of the Burge victims were prosecuted; 2) the private law firm in which Mr. Devine was a partner represented Bug~e in the early 1990s in termination and civil rights proceedings -Mr. Devine personally billed 25 hours for Burge's defense and the law firm itself garnered close to $1 million representing Burge; 3) new hearings for Burge's victims could expose not only the police who carried out torture under Burge's command and who nonetheless are still on the force, but also the prosecutors who may have colluded with police to cover-up the pattern of torture and who have since risen up the ranks of the State's Attorney's office.
In view of the twin failures of the CPD and the State's Attorney's Office to effectively resolve the legacy of police torture and to protect the civil rights of the victims of this legacy, we are calling upon the Department of Justice to conduct a federal probe. The case of Aaron Patterson, one of the "Death Row Ten", can serve as a focal point of this probe for this case embodies the systemic problems we have discussed in this letter Patterson's case has generated considerable media and public attention-both locally and internationally, from a recent report by Amnesty International highlighting the case to a 60 Minutes II story underway-- as an example of wrongful conviction. His case has become a litmus test for whether or not Cook County State's Attorney Richard Devine will change course and support a re-opening of the Burge cases. On April 26, 1999, some of us met with Mr. Devine and pleaded with him to drop his office's opposition to Patterson's appeal before the Illinois Supreme Court for a new evidentiary hearing into his alleged confession. To date, Devine has responded he has Patterson's case "under review" and has not yet made a decision to rescind his office's written opposition-filed before the Illinois Supreme Court this spring-- to Patterson's request for a new hearing.
We hope that you will seriously consider our request for a federal investigation
into what we believe has been the pattern and practice of civil rights
violations by local law enforcement officials that has subjected ordinary
citizens to torture and wrongilil convictions, while shielding their violators
from any disciplinary action or accountability before the law. We can furnish
you with extensive documentation upon your request.
Very Truly Yours,
Constance A. "Connie" Howard
State Representative~32nd District
Chair of Legislative Black Caucus
Joined by:
The Honorable William Delgado Illinois House of Representatives
Nancy Bothne, Director, Midwest Office of Amnesty International
Standish Willis, co-Chair, Chicago Conference of Black Lawyers
Mary Power, Executive Dir., Citizen's Alert
cc: Bill Lann Lee, Acting Assistant Attorney General Scott Lassar, U.S.
Attorney
The Honorable Mary Flower Illinois House of Representatives
Rev. Dr. Calvin Morris, Executive Dir., Community Renewal Society
Patricia Hill, former president, African-American Police League
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