2008 Woodie Awards
$20 million settlement award to police torture victims
Jamie Metrick
Issue date: 2/1/08 Section: World
"There is a consistent pattern," Conroy said. "(The) same officers appearing in different cases, telling the same story that they didn't do this thing that they're accused of."
Since the most recent victim was tortured in 1987, the cases are over 20 years old. Neither current Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley nor Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan have agreed to an evidentiary hearing into the claims of 26 other torture victims on death row who remain imprisoned but received diminished sentences in 2003 by Gov. Ryan.
"Is that retribution enough?" asked senior Gabby Levine, a political science major with a concentration in criminal justice.
Despite the minor victory won by the four victims, Mayor Daley, who served as Cook County State's Attorney from 1980 to 1989, insisted in a public address that "this tragic chapter in our city's history is closed."
"They need to adjust the systematic flaws so that it doesn't happen in general," said Siegel.
In December, USA Today released U.S. Department of Justice statistics that indicated prosecutions for the use of excessive force or other violations of victims' civil rights had risen 25 percent nationally in 2001-2007 compared to the previous seven-year period.
Since the most recent victim was tortured in 1987, the cases are over 20 years old. Neither current Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley nor Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan have agreed to an evidentiary hearing into the claims of 26 other torture victims on death row who remain imprisoned but received diminished sentences in 2003 by Gov. Ryan.
"Is that retribution enough?" asked senior Gabby Levine, a political science major with a concentration in criminal justice.
Despite the minor victory won by the four victims, Mayor Daley, who served as Cook County State's Attorney from 1980 to 1989, insisted in a public address that "this tragic chapter in our city's history is closed."
"They need to adjust the systematic flaws so that it doesn't happen in general," said Siegel.
In December, USA Today released U.S. Department of Justice statistics that indicated prosecutions for the use of excessive force or other violations of victims' civil rights had risen 25 percent nationally in 2001-2007 compared to the previous seven-year period.
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