the first leg of the US slavery Triad

[ensho]

http://www.inthesetimes.org/article/6749/chicagos_torture_cop_awaits_his_sentence/

"racial bias is part of the institutional gene pool of the nation’s police departments"


Chicago’s Torture Cop Awaits His Sentence


G. Flint Taylor should be basking in the glow of vindication as he awaits the January 20 sentencing of Jon Burge, the retired Chicago police commander convicted for lying about a ring of torturing cops he led.

-snip-

Growing complaints forced a 2006 investigation of Burge by a Cook County special prosecutor that found evidence of systematic torture of black suspects through techniques like electro-shocks to the genitals, beatings, burning skin on radiators, Russian roulette, suffocations, and mock executions. Despite that, the prosecutor refused to indict Burge because the statute of limitation had run out on torture charges.

U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald did an end-run around the statute of limitations by charging Burge with perjury and obstructing justice, instead of actual torture. Fitzgerald successfully used the ex-cop’s deposition from a 2003 lawsuit in which he denied knowledge of torture.

-snip-

That sum is part of the “more than $30 million the city has spent on lawyers and payouts to Burge’s victims as a result of many lawsuits,” according to the prosecutors’ court filing. The filing said Burge’s “criminal acts have tainted and prejudiced the thousands of hard-working dedicated police officers who have followed in Burge’s polluted wake.”

This depressing saga of torture in the American heartland reinforces the notion that racial bias is part of the institutional gene pool of the nation’s police departments. Burge’s conviction offers a glimmer of hope that people willing to wage a protracted struggle for social justice can sometimes win a battle. The larger war continues.

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the Slavery Triad: cops/judges/prison

its so much fun to be a black man in the US

[RKP5637]

1. We sure have our share of racists and bigots in this country! n/t

[LuvNewcastle]

2. I don't know if all police departments

make their cops undergo a psych evaluation before being hired, but it seems to me that a good psychologist would be able to weed out a lot of these disturbed people. It would cost a lot of money to do it, but it would also save the departments a lot of money in lawsuits.

[bemildred]

3. K. nt

[mdmc]

4. ..