Chicago, stop spending millions on “pinstripe men” to defend police torture and wrongful convictions

In recent months, two separate Chicago juries returned record verdicts in two wrongful conviction cases. On September 9, a federal court jury returned a $50 million verdict in favor of Marcel Brown, a Black man who was wrongfully convicted based on a coerced confession and other fabricated evidence and spent nearly a decade in prison. The city, whose settlement offer was reportedly $3 million, was represented by private attorneys who, along with several other defense firms, received $150 million in “pinstripe men” from the city for decades to represent police officers in police torture and other wrongful convictions have collected cases

In August, another federal jury returned a $22.5 million verdict in favor of the estate of William Amor, who was wrongfully convicted of an arson murder and spent more than 20 years in prison for coercing a false confession to investigators from Naperville. Naperville subsequently settled the case for $25.5 million. And on September 18, the City Council approved a $10.6 million settlement on behalf of Anthony Jakes, who was tortured by detectives of the notorious Jon Burge and spent 20 years in prison. In both of these cases, the defendants were represented by a longtime “pinstripe” lawyer who had defended Burge himself in several previous torture lawsuits. In Jakes’ case, Chicago paid its pinstripes team an additional $2.25 million.

These awards highlight long-standing, systemic problems that have persisted under Mayor Brandon Johnson and his management counsel. Johnson campaigned on a platform that condemned police torture and wrongful convictions and promised fair compensation for victims. Civil rights lawyers proposed a new approach that would rid the city of “pinstripe” lawyers while creating a mediation process that would be used at the start of litigation and apply fair monetary ranges to wrongful convictions and other cases of police violence.

To date, 18 months after Johnson took office, the mayor and his top lawyer have refused to implement this or any other reform. Instead, they continued “business as usual,” with disastrous results.

In the Burge cases, the same pinstripe lawyers continue to implement their “Bill and Obstruct” plan, denying in court what mayors, including Johnson, and numerous politicians have publicly admitted: that the Chicago Police Department has a long history of using torture practices to encourage false convictions through a pervasive code of silence.

An “astonishing” sum

These lawyers have redoubled their previous efforts and recently moved to remove the only black federal judge appointed to handle torture cases heard in local federal courts in the past 35 years. After the judge denied the request, the company’s attorney personally approved an appeal, which was summarily rejected by the higher court.

In the Jackie Wilson case (I am one of Wilson’s lawyers), a criminal judge had ruled that Jackie and his brother Andrew had been brutally tortured by Burge and several of his team of detectives, including Thomas McKenna. During the criminal trial that resulted in the judge finding that Jackie was innocent, McKenna and Burge wisely accepted the Fifth Amendment. But McKenna, now represented by another firm of “pinstripe lawyers,” has flaunted the court’s finding that he tortured Wilson and denied under oath in Wilson’s civil trial that he did so.

The money Chicago, Cook County and the state have spent on Burge torture and wrongful conviction cases over the past two decades is staggering. Public records show Chicago paid $49.25 million to outside counsel; $118.75 million to survivors of police torture; and another $50.5 million in pensions for Burge (now deceased) and his associates, for a total of $218.5 million. Additionally, the county paid $40 million and the state paid $10 million, for a total of $268.5 million.

According to a recent study released by the Truth Hope and Justice Initiative, the total payouts made by Chicago alone in all wrongful conviction cases amount to three-quarters of a billion dollars: $600 million going to victims and $150 million going to the Pinstripe -Consortium of lawyers.

The city, the mayor and the management consultant are currently at an extremely difficult financial crossroads. Numerous pending cases of torture and other wrongful convictions remain to be resolved. A continued “head in the sand” approach could cost taxpayers many times more than if they – the mayor and the business consultant – wake up, smell the coffee and introduce reforms that lead to a fair, quick and equitable solution to these problems cases, both for the victims and the taxpayers.

Flint Taylor is a founding partner of the People’s Law Office and has represented numerous survivors of police torture and wrongful conviction.

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