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ACTIVITY 30: DBQ
ACTIVITY 30: DBQ
Note: Published in the Chicago Sun-Times, this article describes the investigation conducted by the Office of Professional Standards within the Chicago Police Department. Charges of torture were investigated in 1990 by Michael Goldston, who reached the conclusion that “systematic abuse” had taken place and police department superiors didn’t release the associated report for over a year. (Article can be found on Page 6 of this archived FBI report.)
SOURCE 01|ARTICLE: "Report Cities 12 Years of S. Side Cop Brutality (By Nicodemus, Charles, Chicago Sun-Times, 2/8/92)
SOURCE 01|ARTICLE: "Report Cities 12 Years of S. Side Cop Brutality (By Nicodemus, Charles, Chicago Sun-Times, 2/8/92)
A long-supposed Police Department report says crime suspects were “systematically” brutalized at Area 2 detective headquarters for 12 years and that “particular” top commanders there knew of the abuses.
The October, 1990, study of 50 alleged abuse victims by an investigator for the department’s civilian-staffed Office of Professional Standards was ordered released Friday by U.S. District Judge Milton I. Shadur in connection with a police brutality suit. Police Supt. LeRoy Martin, who commanded the Far South Side headquarters for nine months during the 1974-to-1986 period studied, attacked the report prepared by investigator Michael Goldston.
“The methodology used for the report is flawed and unsubstantiated, bringing into serious question the credibility of its conclusion,” Martin said. He said a preliminary review of the report by Washington-based Police Foundation found that because of “gaps in data” and other “inconsistencies,” the material does “not necessarily support investigator Goldston’s conclusion” of systematic abuse.
As for the allegation that certain unidentified Area 2 commanders were aware of the abuse of suspects, Martin said, “It’s a lie, an outright lie. Whoever said that doesn’t know what they’re talking about.”
Mayor Daley also lashed out at the report, saying its conclusions were “too broad” and were based in part on “allegations sill under investigation.”Daley, state’s attorney during part of the period studied, has been accused by critics of failing to investigate allegations of police misconduct. Release of the Goldston report comes three days before the opening of civilian Police Board hearings on Office of Professional Standards brutality charges against Cmdr. John Burge and two of his detectives. Burge formerly headed the Area 2 violent crimes unit, and the Goldston study was included in the OPS investigation of him.
The hearings starting Monday will probe allegations by convicted cop killer Andrew Wilson that Burge and Detective John Yucaitis tortured him to obtain his confession in February, 1982, and that Detective Patrick O’Hara was aware of the torture and failed to report it.Release of the Goldston report was forced Friday by attorney Flint Taylor. He represented Wilson in two unsuccessful federal damage suits against Burge and was researching an unrelated brutality case when the Goldston report came to light.
Taylor said Martin “sat on” the Goldston report for 15 months.
The October, 1990, study of 50 alleged abuse victims by an investigator for the department’s civilian-staffed Office of Professional Standards was ordered released Friday by U.S. District Judge Milton I. Shadur in connection with a police brutality suit. Police Supt. LeRoy Martin, who commanded the Far South Side headquarters for nine months during the 1974-to-1986 period studied, attacked the report prepared by investigator Michael Goldston.
“The methodology used for the report is flawed and unsubstantiated, bringing into serious question the credibility of its conclusion,” Martin said. He said a preliminary review of the report by Washington-based Police Foundation found that because of “gaps in data” and other “inconsistencies,” the material does “not necessarily support investigator Goldston’s conclusion” of systematic abuse.
As for the allegation that certain unidentified Area 2 commanders were aware of the abuse of suspects, Martin said, “It’s a lie, an outright lie. Whoever said that doesn’t know what they’re talking about.”
Mayor Daley also lashed out at the report, saying its conclusions were “too broad” and were based in part on “allegations sill under investigation.”Daley, state’s attorney during part of the period studied, has been accused by critics of failing to investigate allegations of police misconduct. Release of the Goldston report comes three days before the opening of civilian Police Board hearings on Office of Professional Standards brutality charges against Cmdr. John Burge and two of his detectives. Burge formerly headed the Area 2 violent crimes unit, and the Goldston study was included in the OPS investigation of him.
The hearings starting Monday will probe allegations by convicted cop killer Andrew Wilson that Burge and Detective John Yucaitis tortured him to obtain his confession in February, 1982, and that Detective Patrick O’Hara was aware of the torture and failed to report it.Release of the Goldston report was forced Friday by attorney Flint Taylor. He represented Wilson in two unsuccessful federal damage suits against Burge and was researching an unrelated brutality case when the Goldston report came to light.
Taylor said Martin “sat on” the Goldston report for 15 months.
SOURCE 02|INFOGRAPHIC: “Jon Burge, Torturer of Over 100 Black Men, Is Out of Prison After Less Than Four Years” (By Taylor, Flint, 10/2/14)
SOURCE 02|INFOGRAPHIC: “Jon Burge, Torturer of Over 100 Black Men, Is Out of Prison After Less Than Four Years” (By Taylor, Flint, 10/2/14)
LEFT IMAGE: Note: Published October 2, 2014 by In These Times, the data presented here shows the costs of this torture scandal to taxpayers in Chicago. This data was obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests and court documents by the People’s Law Offices.
SOURCE 03|PRIMARY SOURCE: "A Historian Testifies on Police and Poverty (Adam Green, n.d.)
SOURCE 03|PRIMARY SOURCE: "A Historian Testifies on Police and Poverty (Adam Green, n.d.)
Note: Excerpts from Historian Adam Green’s testimony in Jon Burge’s trial are noted in Reparations Won: A Case Study in Police Torture, Racism, and the Movement for Justice in Chicago. In the following excerpt, Adam Green describes how police would often respond to impoverished communities.
Q: When you have a community such as it was in Chicago’s South Side in the 1970s and ‘80s, with these conditions that you just described, what does that mean with respect to the community’s relationship with and need for law enforcement?
A: Well, two things are going to come up. One is that because of the difficulties, the adversity, lack of wealth, lack of opportunity, lack of work, a vacuum in terms of people’s relationships to the formal economy, that is going to be taken up by the emergence of informal economy structures like, for instance, the drug economy, people are going to need some presence of law enforcement just in order to be able to address basic concerns around public safety.
At the same time because of the isolation and also because of the way in more and more, that people that live within these communities, black and poor, are blamed for the conditions that exist within these communities, it is going to tend to be the case that even though law enforcement may pay attention to these people, they are going to do so with a certain kind of condescending, a certain kind of superior, maybe even sort of a certain contemptuous attitude. They see these communities as being beneath them. They see these communities not being able to kind of engage in normal, regular respectable social functions, And oftentimes, as many people have shown, they were going to police them as if they are communities that don’t really need to be given the same respect that other communities are given.
A: Well, two things are going to come up. One is that because of the difficulties, the adversity, lack of wealth, lack of opportunity, lack of work, a vacuum in terms of people’s relationships to the formal economy, that is going to be taken up by the emergence of informal economy structures like, for instance, the drug economy, people are going to need some presence of law enforcement just in order to be able to address basic concerns around public safety.
At the same time because of the isolation and also because of the way in more and more, that people that live within these communities, black and poor, are blamed for the conditions that exist within these communities, it is going to tend to be the case that even though law enforcement may pay attention to these people, they are going to do so with a certain kind of condescending, a certain kind of superior, maybe even sort of a certain contemptuous attitude. They see these communities as being beneath them. They see these communities not being able to kind of engage in normal, regular respectable social functions, And oftentimes, as many people have shown, they were going to police them as if they are communities that don’t really need to be given the same respect that other communities are given.
SOURCE 04|PRIMARY SOURCE: Testimony of Mary L. Johnson, From Reparations Now, Reparations Won (Edited by Kim, Alice & Ash, Jennifer S., 2015)
SOURCE 04|PRIMARY SOURCE: Testimony of Mary L. Johnson, From Reparations Now, Reparations Won (Edited by Kim, Alice & Ash, Jennifer S., 2015)
“... my son was beat up in the park. He came home and told me about the police jumping on him and I saw his face scarred up. And I went and filed a complaint. I learned then that the police don’t only get you when you’re bad, the police can get you when you’re good, and you better not say anything about it. So by me reporting to the police what they did to my son, they targeted him after that. See that’s the lowdown way they can destroy him, and all of us.
So I was feeling very bad. I started disliking all them white folks that I liked so much. ‘Cause everywhere I went I had to give my story to a white person. I saw all of them as being in charge. And I resented them so ‘til I rode the bus and I’d see a white person looking at me and I’d roll my eyes ‘til they’d turn their head. I said to myself, Don’t you even look at me, all the stuff you is. But then I came to realize that if I was a person of color and I didn’t realize what was going on why do I think they knew? They had been brainwashed also. They separated us so we wouldn’t know what was happening to one another. I got a lot of white friends. They like me, but they don’t live near me. They march with me and talk to me, but when we go home we part our ways. So that keeps us divided.
So I learned to speak up and talk about what was going on because I was really mad with white folks. Police, Santa Clause, Jesus. All of them. Because they had hurt my son and it was constantly going on. They told him they was gonna jam him, that’s what they say. And they put a case on him, put him in the penitentiary 17 years old. See, everybody in control is people that don’t look like me.”“So, I started feeling sorry for myself, but I was driven by my love for my son. I say, I’m gonna expose these sons of a guns. If there’s anybody out there with any kind of backbone they gon’ have to learn, until you overcome your fear you’re not even living. It’s not a good feeling when you can’t help your young ones...
I got an invitation to go [visit] death row and I got in, in spite of the rules. I was walking up and down death row. And when they saw me, they said I reminded them of the mother they hadn’t seen in years, I remind them of the sister they left behind. It was such a feeling for me ‘til I couldn’t miss going. I was going every month, I got addicted to it because I saw the good that I was doing for those guys. I couldn’t help my son, but I could help somebody else’s...
We’re in a battle to be fair. I don’t want you feeling sorry for me because I am Black and strong. I want you to have empathy for me. Put yourself in my position. How would you feel if it was your son? How would you feel if they took you child? You know, just like they did during slavery. Take them right out of your arms.
They take our sons, they beat them, and what can we do about it? Tell them to stay in the house and don’t go out. That’s not fair. That’s not right. Sympathy, no, I don’t need sympathy, but now empathy. When we work together we can do beautiful things.”
So I was feeling very bad. I started disliking all them white folks that I liked so much. ‘Cause everywhere I went I had to give my story to a white person. I saw all of them as being in charge. And I resented them so ‘til I rode the bus and I’d see a white person looking at me and I’d roll my eyes ‘til they’d turn their head. I said to myself, Don’t you even look at me, all the stuff you is. But then I came to realize that if I was a person of color and I didn’t realize what was going on why do I think they knew? They had been brainwashed also. They separated us so we wouldn’t know what was happening to one another. I got a lot of white friends. They like me, but they don’t live near me. They march with me and talk to me, but when we go home we part our ways. So that keeps us divided.
So I learned to speak up and talk about what was going on because I was really mad with white folks. Police, Santa Clause, Jesus. All of them. Because they had hurt my son and it was constantly going on. They told him they was gonna jam him, that’s what they say. And they put a case on him, put him in the penitentiary 17 years old. See, everybody in control is people that don’t look like me.”“So, I started feeling sorry for myself, but I was driven by my love for my son. I say, I’m gonna expose these sons of a guns. If there’s anybody out there with any kind of backbone they gon’ have to learn, until you overcome your fear you’re not even living. It’s not a good feeling when you can’t help your young ones...
I got an invitation to go [visit] death row and I got in, in spite of the rules. I was walking up and down death row. And when they saw me, they said I reminded them of the mother they hadn’t seen in years, I remind them of the sister they left behind. It was such a feeling for me ‘til I couldn’t miss going. I was going every month, I got addicted to it because I saw the good that I was doing for those guys. I couldn’t help my son, but I could help somebody else’s...
We’re in a battle to be fair. I don’t want you feeling sorry for me because I am Black and strong. I want you to have empathy for me. Put yourself in my position. How would you feel if it was your son? How would you feel if they took you child? You know, just like they did during slavery. Take them right out of your arms.
They take our sons, they beat them, and what can we do about it? Tell them to stay in the house and don’t go out. That’s not fair. That’s not right. Sympathy, no, I don’t need sympathy, but now empathy. When we work together we can do beautiful things.”
LEFT IMAGE: Adobe Stock Note: As the mother of a survivor of violence committed by the Chicago Police, Mary L. Johnson has worked to resist police torture. Her testimony is included in Reparations Now, Reparations Won. Chicago Torture Justice Memorials, 2015.
SOURCE 05|POEM: Excerpts from Collage Poem - Torture Survivors Roundtable (Compiled by CTJM, 10/19/11)
SOURCE 05|POEM: Excerpts from Collage Poem - Torture Survivors Roundtable (Compiled by CTJM, 10/19/11)
Note: As noted in Reparations Won: A Case Study in Police Torture, Racism, and the Movement for Justice in Chicago, “All words and phrases come from the testimonies of David Bastes, Darrell Cannon, Mark Clements, and Anthony Holmes, with a few from moderator Dorothy Burge and Ms. Plummer, mother of a still-incarcerated survivor, who spoke from the floor.”
I’ve been countingThere are 98 yearsOf incarceration among us
What you can’t ever get back:
My aunt diedI lost everythingEveryday is a struggle
***A closet-sized Interrogation roomI was 16No one called my parents
What you can’t ever get back:
My aunt diedI lost everythingEveryday is a struggle
***A closet-sized Interrogation roomI was 16No one called my parents
Wouldn’t learnwouldn’t go to schoolMy downfall
I ditched schoolBut I went to museums
***They beat my sonOn the bottoms of his feet
I’m fighting for everyone’ssonI want my child to comehomeMy son was 15He is 35 now...
I ditched schoolBut I went to museums
***They beat my sonOn the bottoms of his feet
I’m fighting for everyone’ssonI want my child to comehomeMy son was 15He is 35 now...
Don’t let yourself go downYour son has not gottenA death certificateHe is being held hostageAnd hostages DOGet liberated
***
Your pain Your traumaYour future
A trilogy:AbuseIncarcerationReturn
let this not be the end ofthis struggle.
SOURCE 06|SECONDARY SOURCE: Upfront's Guide to the Constitution (By Majerol, Veronica, New York Times, 1/10/11)
SOURCE 06|SECONDARY SOURCE: Upfront's Guide to the Constitution (By Majerol, Veronica, New York Times, 1/10/11)
Note: Published in The New York Times on January 10, 2011, Upfront’s Guide to the Constitution offers key information on vital Constitutional Amendments. The preface to the article reads, “Even some of our leaders could use a refresher on the nation’s founding legal document. Here’s a primer on the most quotable constitutional amendments.”
Fourth Amendment (1791)
What it says: It limits the power of law enforcement to arrest people and search or seize their property without “probable cause.”
Background: This Amendment was a reaction to several cases in England and the Colonies during the 1760s in which the rights of the accused were abused.
Key cases: New Jersy v. T.L.O. (1985): School officials may search a student’s property - including backpacks and lockers - if they have “reasonable suspicion” that a law or school rule has been violated; Board of Education v. Earls (2002): Random drug testing of students involved in extracurricular activities is permitted; Arizona v. Gant (2009): Police may not search a suspect’s car after an arrest without a reasonable expectation that they will find evidence related to the arrest.
Eighth Amendment (1791)
What it says: You’re protected from excessive criminal fines and “cruel and unusual” punishment. Some people believe capital punishment violates the Eighth Amendment.
Background: A similar right is found in the Magna Carta, issued in England in 1215.
Key cases: Roper v. Simmons (2005): The death penalty for juvenile offenders is unconstitutional; Graham v. Florida (2010): Life imprisonment without parole for non-capital crimes is unconstitutional for juvenile offenders.
Fourteenth Amendment (1868)
What it says: People are born or naturalized in the U.S. are American citizens, and individual states can’t deprive them of their constitutional rights (the “equal protection” clause).
Background: This 14th Amendment voided a clause in the 1857 Dred Scott decision that stated that Africans imported as slaves and their children - slave or free - couldn’t be citizens. Today, some people argue that the Amendment encourages illegal immigrants to have children in the U.S. (“anchor babies”) and should be repealed.
Key cases: Brown v. Board of Education (1954): The Court overturned Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), ruling that segregation in schools is inherently unequal and therefore unconstitutional
What it says: It limits the power of law enforcement to arrest people and search or seize their property without “probable cause.”
Background: This Amendment was a reaction to several cases in England and the Colonies during the 1760s in which the rights of the accused were abused.
Key cases: New Jersy v. T.L.O. (1985): School officials may search a student’s property - including backpacks and lockers - if they have “reasonable suspicion” that a law or school rule has been violated; Board of Education v. Earls (2002): Random drug testing of students involved in extracurricular activities is permitted; Arizona v. Gant (2009): Police may not search a suspect’s car after an arrest without a reasonable expectation that they will find evidence related to the arrest.
Eighth Amendment (1791)
What it says: You’re protected from excessive criminal fines and “cruel and unusual” punishment. Some people believe capital punishment violates the Eighth Amendment.
Background: A similar right is found in the Magna Carta, issued in England in 1215.
Key cases: Roper v. Simmons (2005): The death penalty for juvenile offenders is unconstitutional; Graham v. Florida (2010): Life imprisonment without parole for non-capital crimes is unconstitutional for juvenile offenders.
Fourteenth Amendment (1868)
What it says: People are born or naturalized in the U.S. are American citizens, and individual states can’t deprive them of their constitutional rights (the “equal protection” clause).
Background: This 14th Amendment voided a clause in the 1857 Dred Scott decision that stated that Africans imported as slaves and their children - slave or free - couldn’t be citizens. Today, some people argue that the Amendment encourages illegal immigrants to have children in the U.S. (“anchor babies”) and should be repealed.
Key cases: Brown v. Board of Education (1954): The Court overturned Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), ruling that segregation in schools is inherently unequal and therefore unconstitutional
LEFT IMAGE: Adobe Stock
Unit 9 RAFT.pdfDOCUMENT: Produced by Skyrocket Education Services (2019)
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ACTIVITY 31: REVIEW & REFLECT
ACTIVITY 31: REVIEW & REFLECT
Unit 10 R&R.pdfDOCUMENT: Produced By Skyrocket Education Services (2019)
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