Patrick Fitzgerald Holds Police Commander Accountable For Torture

Thirteen months ago, five Chicago aldermen sent a letter to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald urging him to "investigate, indict and prosecute" former Chicago Police Lt. Jon Burge for torturing criminal suspects.

That’s right, you read it correctly, torturing suspects while they were in custody. Twenty years of torturing suspects. The statute of limitations had run out on the physical assaults on the victims and the city of Chicago had not tried to rescind his pension. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald had retired Chicago police commander Jon Burge arrested this Tuesday morning.

The official charge is perjury, not torture. Although a 2006 special prosecutor’s probe concluded that dozens of suspects had been tortured by Chicago police under Burge’s watch, the statute of limitations had expired on those specific charges, resulting in zero legal repercussions for him or his officers. However, Fitzgerald has now charged Burge with lying during a November 2003 civil suit by providing false written answers to questions on his reign of torture.

I know, I know, somewhere some wingnut is once again going to denounce ole’ Pat for going after a criminal for perjury when that criminal lies about some other crime, the prosecution of which is blocked by a legal technicality. As if lying about a crime is somehow OK, so long as you are not convicted on the underlying crime. If we follow that "Libby was railroaded" line of thinking, then Burge would never be called to account for his behavior before a jury of his peers. Then Burge would never get to experience the very Due Process rights he denied to his victims.

What I like about this story is not just the substance, that a very dangerous and brutal man will face justice, but also the explanation of the prosecution offered by the prosecution. The quote below is from Pat’s official statement on the arrest. When you read it, try substituting the phrase "in US custody" for "in a police station" and tell me, doesn’t that explain everything that John Yoo, David Addington, Dick Cheney, et al should have known about how Americans treat those in our custody? Even murderers?

"There is no place for torture and abuse in a police station," said U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald in a news release. "There is no place for perjury and false statements in federal lawsuits. No person is above the law, and nobody — even a suspected murderer — is beneath its protection."

This line should be in the opening statement, before the jury, of every lawyer prosecuting a US war criminal for the abuses they committed in the name of our nation. If it is ever my privilege to be allowed a role in returning our nation to the rule of law (instead of the rule of madmen), you can bet I will use it my opening statement to the jury.

God bless him, that Fitzgerald character give me hope.

Twenty-second in a series on torture and the law

[Editor's note: This photo by takomabibelot features a banner created and designed by Firedoglake reader BonnieT of Austin, Texas, where she operates OpposeTorture.org.]

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4. Holder Names Durham Special Prosecutor for Torture
5. Jawad, Ghailani Cases Challenge US Torture Under Rule of Law