Jon Burge, the former Chicago Police captain accused of leading a group of officers that allegedly tortured suspects, is finally facing trial. The first step begins today with the start of jury selection. Potential jurors will appear in court to complete a questionnaire and will return to court on May 24 to complete the jury selection process. Because the statue of limitations on possible torture charges have expired, prosecutors are instead going after Burge for perjury and obstruction of justice. Prosecutors say Burge lied in 2003 when asked if he was aware of any acts of torture going on under his command. That was during a wrongful conviction lawsuit filed by Madison Hobley. Hobley was originally convicted of setting the 1987 fire that killed seven people, including his wife and son. He served 13 years in prison before Gov. George Ryan pardoned him in 2003 and in his wrongful conviction lawsuit, Hobley alleged that Burge and his men tortured him in to making a false confession. (When investigators filed no new charges against Hobley for the fire, he was cleared to collect his full settlement). more ›

Madison Hobley, who once sat on death row, is now allowed to collect $6.5 million stemming from a wrongful-conviction lawsuit he won against the city. Hobley was originally convicted of setting the 1987 fire that killed seven people, including his wife and son. He served 13 years in prison before Gov. George Ryan pardoned him in 2003. An extra layer of intrigue to the situation comes from the fact that Hobley's main defense was that former Police Commander Jon Burge tortured Hobley into confessing. more ›

Is the City finally going to reach some kind of resolution with four victims of police torture victims? It look like it. Aaron Patterson, Leroy Orange, Stanley Howard and Madison Hobley, all tortured by Chicago Police commander Jon Burge and his Area 2 lackeys, will divide a $20 million settlement in their suit against the city. Says 4th Ward Alderman Toni Preckwinkle, Failure to settle these cases when there was no argument anymore that there... more ›

George Ryan. The name brings up a laundry list of titles. Former governor. Inspiration for our current governor. Keeper of the flame for Illinois politics in general. And, equaling the infamy of his corrupted reign, death penalty opponent. On Friday, Ryan appeared at DePaul University to make a speech concerning the ultimate capital punishment. It was one of his first public appearances since being sentenced for racketeering and fraud charges in September. He spent 45... more ›