Committee on Public Safety City Council Meeting May 23, 2022
ORDER
WHEREAS, During the 1980's and 1990's, a series of allegations of coerced confessions resulting from torture techniques by Chicago Police Detectives under the command of Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge had been made; and,
WHEREAS, Burge was suspended from the Chicago Police Department in 1991 and fired in 1993 after the Police Department Review Board ruled that he had in fact used torture techniques against detainees; and,
WHEREAS, A four-year investigation by Edward J. Egan, Special States Attorney concluded, "While not all the officers named by all the claimants were guilty of prisoner abuse; it is our judgment that the commander of the Violent Crimes section of Detective Areas 2 and 3, Jon Burge, was guilty of such abuse. It necessarily follows that a number of those serving under his command recognized that, if their commander could abuse persons with impunity, so could they;" and,
WHEREAS, In response, the Illinois Legislature created the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission in 2009; and,
WHEREAS, the Illinois Department of Corrections inmates Mr. Harvey Allen, Mr. George Anderson, Mr. Javon Deloney, Mr. Darryl Fair, Mr. Jerome Johnson, Mr. Raymond Lee, Mr. James Lenoir, Mr. John Mitchell, Mr. Abdul Muhammad, Mr. Kevin Murray, Mr. Maurice Pledger, Mr. Clayborn Smith and Mr. Ivan Smith filed claims of torture with The Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission related to their homicide convictions and the Commission reported there was sufficient credible evidence of torture used against each of them and they remain incarcerated; and,
WHEREAS, In addition to The Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission reporting that there was sufficient credible evidence of torture used against Mr. George
Anderson, Mr. Javon Deloney, Mr. Jerome Johnson, and Mr. James Lenoir, each have a claim of actual innocence; and,
WHEREAS, according to the National Registry of Exonerations since 1989 there have been 1202 exonerations for wrongful homicide convictions across the Nation with 181 occurring in Illinois while 141 were in Cook County; and,
WHEREAS, Clemency Investigations Inc. (501c3 nonprofit], was founded in 2020 and has conducted independent investigations related to claims of innocence for those convicted of homicides across the Nation; and,
WHEREAS, Clemency Investigations Inc. has the funding and desire to conduct independent investigations into the claims of innocence by Mr. Anderson, Mr. Deloney, Mr. Johnson, and Mr. Lenoir; and,
BE IT ORDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO, That Clemency Investigations Inc. be hereby appointed by the Committee on Public Safety to investigate claims of innocence made by Mr. Anderson, Mr. Deloney, Mr. Johnson and Mr. Lenoir and report back its findings to the committee; and,
BE IT FURTHER ORDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO, that Chicago Police Superintendent David E. Brown and all members of the Chicago Police Department cooperate and assist in the claims of innocence made by Mr. Anderson, Mr. Deloney, Mr. Johnson and Mr. Lenoir without exception or delay, including original files essential to the investigation.