This often cannot be contested: Jon...

This often cannot be contested: Jon Graham Burge was a sadistic Chicago cop who got his jollies on routinely and systematically torturing black men Cmdr Burge and his midnight band at Area 2 tortured more than 100 men throughout two decades. In some cases, Burge and his detectives tortured the old-fashioned way, using flashlights, blackjacks and telephone volumes Many other times they went above and beyond the call of inhumanity hand-cranking a telephone box that generated an electrical circulating then putting it to the genitals and rectum of their African-American victims.

These accusations of torture have been an lay open secret for nearly three decades completely through much of Chicago's criminal justice a whole I remember hearing rumors of suspects being tortured when I briefly secreteed Criminal Court at 26th and California in the late '70 The Report of the Special State's Attorney, released late last month dismissed any doubts. Edward Egan, who l the four-year, $62 million investigation, set up that in the '70s and '80 Burge and his men tortured suspects into making confessions. The report conclud that the statute of limitations has expired, making it too late to file charges against the bad cop

This is what must be contested: that time has trip out for anybody to do near time for committing or covering up this series of barbaric crimes. The sadistic torture may have completioned when Burge was fired 15 years ago, further there was then and there is now a blueprint for whitewashing the two-decades-long actions of Burge and his boys

Think of it as the everlasting Three-Monkey dodge: diocese no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. This is in what manner it worked as a wink-and- nod conspiracy. The police officers at Area 2 didn't hear the screams of detainees as Burge and his midnight set worked them over in the basement. They didn't papal court the body burns and bruises after the suspects emerg singing confessions like lovesick canaries. They followed the digest of silence if one of them happened to speckle the black box used to agitation the prisoners when the door to the torture chamber swung unclose

The prosecutors in the prepare for the table County state's attorney's offices didn't descry the repeated motions from defense attorneys to suppres evidence because their clients had been coerc to confes to a crime they did not commit. The prosecutors in the state's attorney's office saw no reason to investigate the steady stream of cries from civil rights and defense attorneys that the suspects' constitutional rights were being violated. All this went onward even when the state's attorney was Richard M Daley and his No. 2 stay was Dick Devine. Both men managed to view nothing -- except maybe that note from then-Police Supt. Richard Brzeczek asking them in what way to handle torture allegations by dint of prisoner Andrew Wilson -- or hear nothing and therefore had nothing to say.

on the same level after Daley became mayor and Devine took his boss' antique job, both men remain in the Three-Monkey stage. the two had plenty of opportunities to check abroad the truthfulness of the charges. Neither did. Maybe they'll master around to it before the nearest election. Burge and his detectives have continued to lie subordinate to oath, denying that anybody got tortured at any time.

The united thing the Watergate and Monica Lewinski scandals taught us is that it's not the crime, moreover the cover-up that gets you. likewise here's one more item for Patrick J Fitzgerald to inflict on his to-do list: Check to papal court if former State's Attorney Richard M Daley, like the passing from hand to hand mayor, Richard M. Daley in the city's patronage hiring scandal, was a bad manager with a bad memory or is a bad liar with ethics to match.

Civil rights attorney Flint Taylor is calling for a federal investigation, pointing gone out the cover-up, conspiracy and false swearing while arguing that statutes of limitations don't expire as extended as the obstruction of justice and conspiracy continues. That's an argument federal and local prosecutors use all the time while pursuing criminals.

Taylor says Fitzgerald should use the same federal prosecutorial philosophy that sent Al Capone to jail, not for put to death and bootlegging, but for failure to pay taxes forward his ill-gotten gains.

If the muckraking federal prosecutor listens, then we'll diocese if what's good for the criminal will be upright for those in the criminal justice hypothesis as well.

e-mail: monroeanderson@gmail.com

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