Chicago Police Torture

This blog provides information about Chicago alderpeople who have yet to support a reparations ordinance for the survivors of #CPD torture.

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by Monica Trinidad

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Alderpeople Who Support The Ordinance (not on finance)

Robert Fioretti (2nd Ward)

Ward:  [phone]

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Roderick Sawyer (6th Ward)

Ward: [phone]

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Michael Chandler (24th Ward)

Ward: [phone]

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Robert Maldonado (26th Ward)

Ward: [phone]

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Deborah Mell (33rd Ward)

Ward: [phone]

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Nicholas Sposato (36th Ward)

Ward: [phone]

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Michelle Smith (43rd Ward)

 Ward: [phone]

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John Arena (45th Ward)

Ward: [phone]

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James Cappelman (46th Ward)

Ward: [phone]

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Ameya Pawar (47th Ward)

Ward: [phone]

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Who Supports Burge Reparations Ordinance?

These alderpeople SUPPORT the Burge Reparations Ordinance. You can find contact information for each alderperson here.

Proco Joe Moreno (1st Ward)

Robert Fioretti (2nd Ward)

Pat Dour-Dowell (3rd Ward)

William Burns (4th Ward)

Leslie Hairston (5th Ward)

Roderick Sawyer (6th Ward)

Michelle Harris (8th Ward) @AldermanHarris

Toni Foulkes (15th Ward)

Latasha Thomas (17th Ward)

Lona Lane (18th Ward)

Willie B. Cochran (20th Ward)

Howard Brookins (21st Ward)

Ricardo Munoz (22nd Ward)

Michael Chandler (24th Ward)

Daniel Solis (25th Ward)

Roberto Maldonado (26th Ward)

Walter Burnett, Jr. (27th Ward)

Jason Ervin (28th Ward)

Ariel E. Rebroyras (30th Ward)

Scott Waguespeck (32nd Ward)

Deborah Mell (33rd Ward)

Carrie Austin (34th Ward)

Rey Colon (35th Ward)

Nicholas Sposato (36th Ward)

Emma Mitts (37th Ward)

Brendan Reilly (42nd Ward)

Michelle Smith (43rd Ward)

John Arena (45th Ward)

James Cappelman (46th Ward)

Ameya Pawar (47th Ward)

Harry Osterman (48th Ward)

Joe Moore (49th Ward)

These alderpeople DO NOT (yet support the reparations ordinance)

Natasha Holmes (7th Ward) Anthony Beale (9th Ward) @Alderman_Beale John Pope (10th Ward) @AldermanPope James Balcer (11th Ward) George A. Cardenas (12th Ward) @aldcardenas Marty Quinn (13th Ward) Ed Burke (14th Ward)  @AldermanEdBurke Matthew O-Shea (19th Ward) @mattoshea19 Michael Zalewski (23rd Ward) Deborah Graham (29th Ward) Ray Suarez (31st Ward) Timothy M. Cullerton (38th Ward) Margaret Laurino (39th Ward) Patrick J. O’Connor (40th Ward) Mary O’Connor (41st Ward) @MaryOConnor41 Tom Tunney (44th Ward) @AldTomTunney Debra Silverstein (50th Ward) @Debra4Alderman

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Phone Bank for Reparations on 4/30

Reparations for Burge torture survivors are close to a final vote! If the City Council approves our ordinance, it will be the first time a city provides reparations for police violence. We need your help to stand with torture survivors and their families, and make sure this historic legislation passes.

The City Council Finance Committee is scheduled to vote on the Reparations for Burge Torture Victims Ordinance on May 5th, and the full City Council is scheduled to vote for the Reparations Ordinance and Resolution on May 6th. 

We have two lists of people to call, with slightly different requests.

1)  We are asking you to call members of the City Council finance committee who have already expressed support for the ordinance. Please thank them for their support and ask them to demonstrate it by attending the Finance The Committee hearing on May 5th and the City Council Hearing on May 6th and voting in favor of the ordinance.

The list of finance committee members who are supportive is here.

Here’s a script that you can use in your calls:

“Good Afternoon. I understand that Alderman X has already declared their support for the Burge torture survivors ordinance introduced in the City Council in October 2013. I am calling to thank Alderman X for their support and to ask that they vote in support of the ordinance when it is heard in the finance committee on May 5th and when it is heard in the full City Council on May 6th. Can you please relay my message to Alderman X? Once again, I thank them for their support and for taking a stand against police torture.”

 2)  The second thing that we are asking you to do is to call aldermen and women who have expressed support for the ordinance but are NOT members of the finance committee. Please thank them for their support and to ask them to demonstrate it by voting in favor of the ordinance and resolution on May 6th.

The list of supportive aldermen and women who are not on the finance committee is here.

Here’s a script that you can use in your calls:

“Good Afternoon. I understand that Alderman X has already declared their support for the Burge torture survivors ordinance introduced in the City Council in October 2013. I am calling to thank Alderman X for their support and to ask that they vote in support of the ordinance when it is heard in the finance committee on May 5th and when it is heard in the full City Council on May 6th. Can you please relay my message to Alderman X? Once again, I thank them for their support and for taking a stand against police torture.”

If your alderperson is not on either list, and is one of the seventeen  who have not expressed support for reparations, you can also call them and ask them to vote yes on reparations on May 6. You can look up your alderperson here.

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Phone Bank Today

We need your help to demand and shore up support for the Burge torture survivors Reparations ordinance. Please call members of the City Council finance committee who have already expressed support for the ordinance to thank them for that support and to ask them to demonstrate it by voting in favor of the ordinance.

The list of finance committee members who are supportive is here.

Here’s a script that you can use in your calls:

“Good Afternoon. I understand that Alderman X has already declared their support for the Burge torture survivors ordinance introduced in the City Council in October 2013. I am calling to thank Alderman X for their support and to ask that they vote in support of the ordinance when it is heard in the finance committee.Can you please relay my message to Alderman X? Once again, I thank them for their support and for taking a stand against police torture.”

The second thing that we need you to do is to call Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office today to demand that he declare his FULL support for the reparations ordinance. Please stress that the financial compensation component of the ordinance is essential to offering a modicum of justice for the torture survivors. Tell the Mayor that he should get on the right side of justice. You can use the number below.

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR HELP! 

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City Council Finance Committee Members

As the reparations ordinance heads to a hearing in the finance committee on 4/14 at 10 am, we ask supporters to reach out to key alderpeople who support the ordinance as well as those who have yet to declare their support. Please thank the alderpeople who support the ordinance and let them know that you look forward to their presence on 4/14. For the alderpeople who oppose or have yet to declare their support, ask for their support.

Supporters

Proco Joe Moreno (1) Pat Dowell (3) William D. Burns (4) Leslie A. Hairston (5)

Michelle A. Harris (8) 

Toni Foulkes (15)

Latasha R. Thomas (17) Lona Lane (18) Willie Cochran (20) Howard Brookins (21) Ricardo Munoz (22) Daniel Solis (25) Walter Burnett, Jr. (27) Jason C. Ervin (28)

Ariel Reboyras (30) 

Scott Waguespack (32) Carrie Austin (34) Rey Colon (35) Emma Mitts (37) Brendan Reilly (42) Harry Osterman (48) Joseph Moore (49)

Opponents (or those who have yet to declare support)

All of their contact information can be found on this site. Please reach out to ask that they support the ordinance. If you are on social media, find memes that you can use to ask the opponents to declare their support HERE.

Anthony Beale (9) John Pope (10) James Balcer (11) George A. Cardenas (12) Marty Quinn (13) Edward M. Burke (14) Michael R. Zalewski (23) Deborah L. Graham (29) Ray Suarez (31) Margaret Laurino (39) Patrick O'Connor (40) Thomas Tunney (44)

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Reparations Ordinance Gets A Finance Committee Hearing Date on April 14

Today, the finance committee of the Chicago City Council announced that it will hold a hearing on the Burge Torture Reparations Ordinance on April 14. The announcement was made at today’s finance committee meeting. Several organizers and activists were present to demand a hearing and demonstrate their support for the reparations ordinance.

The ordinance has been stalled in the finance committee since it was filed in city council on October 16, 2013 by Aldermen Joe Moreno (1st Ward) and Howard Brookins (21st Ward). Several organizations, including Amnesty International USA, Chicago Torture Justice Memorials, Project NIA and We Charge Genocide have held rallies, demonstrations, marches, sing-ins, exhibitions, and public memorials in the last three months to demand a public hearing on the ordinance and call on Mayor Rahm Emanuel and aldermen and women to fully support the ordinance and commit to its immediate passage in city council.

The ordinance is supported by Cook County Commissioner and mayoral candidate Jesus (Chuy) Garcia, 29 city aldermen and women, and numerous other political and civil leaders in Chicago. This past November, the United Nations Committee Against Torture also called upon the city of Chicago to enact the ordinance.

The ordinance was drafted in 2012 to address the fact that over 100 African American men and women have been subjected to racially motivated torture including electric shock, mock executions, suffocation and beatings by former Police Commander Jon Burge and his subordinates between 1972 and 1991. Although Burge was convicted in federal court in 2010 for perjury and obstruction of justice stemming from the torture cases, he continues to draw a pension, while scores of Chicago Police torture survivors continue to suffer from the psychological effects of the torture they endured without any compensation, assistance, or legal redress.

The ordinance serves as a formal apology to the survivors; creates a commission to administer financial compensation to the survivors; creates a medical, psychological, and vocational center on the south side of Chicago; provides free enrollment in city colleges to the survivors; requires Chicago public schools to teach a history lesson about the cases; requires the city to fund public memorials about the cases; and sets aside $20 million to finance all of this redress – approximately the same amount of money the city has spent to defend Burge, other detectives and former Mayor Richard M. Daley in the Chicago Police torture cases.

Read press release here.

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Community organizing gets the goods!

"Yesterday Reps from Elephant Rebellion, Kuumba Lynx, KINETIC, CGCT, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and Connect Force took action in support of the Burge Torture Reparations Ordinance by getting Harry Osterman, the Alderman of the 48th Ward (Who was a part of the John's Street Dedication and Murals) to be the 29th Alderperson to sign on to the Ordinance that we've never been so close to getting passed to get some Justice for the 110+ Black Men Tortured into wrongful convictions, their families and their communities that were and continue to be attacked by the decades of Torture of the Chicago Police. This was an important victory in a long hard fight many have carried from the men behind bars, their mothers and other family members, lawyers, organizations and individuals who have taken action for Justice. JVN was a strong force behind us." '- Jacinda Bullie

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Alderman Osterman Declares His Support!

Yesterday, alderman Harry Osterman agreed to co-sponsor the reparations ordinance. If you are represented by Alderperson Osterman, contact him to thank him for his support of the reparations ordinance. 

5533 N. Broadway Ave. Chicago, IL 60640

Phone:[phone]

Twitter: @48Ward

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Who is Right on Reparations?

Below is a voter's guide to which Chicago leaders support the police torture reparations ordinance (and which don't). The online version is HERE.

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Email Alderpeople Who Have Yet to Support the Ordinance

We have a simple way for you to contact the remaining alderpeople who should support the reparations ordinance. 

It will literally take 1 minute. Please click here to contact the alderpeople.

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Carrie M Austin (34th Ward) Signs On To Ordinance

Today on January 20th, Alderperson Carrie Austin agreed to support the reparations ordinance. If you are represented by Alderperson Austin, please contact her to thank her for supporting the reparations ordinance. 

Office:507 W. 111th St 

Chicago, IL 60628  [email protected]

Phone:[phone]

City Hall Office:121 N. Lasalle St.  Room 200  Chicago, IL 60602

City Hall Phone:[phone] (Aldermanic)  312.744.3166 (Budget)

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Tell The City Council To Pass The Chicago Reparations Ordinance

On October 16, 2013, a Reparations Ordinance for Chicago Police Torture Survivors was introduced in Chicago’s City Council.

It has already garnered the support of 28 alderpeople.

Among other demands, the ordinance would require the city to administer financial reparations to all Burge torture survivors who are unable to sue for monetary damages because the statute of limitations for their claims has expired. The proposed ordinance would also provide all torture survivors and their families with tuition-free education at City Colleges; create a center on the South Side of Chicago that would provide psychological counseling, health care services and vocational training to those affected by law enforcement torture and abuse; require Chicago Public Schools to teach about these cases and sponsor the construction of public torture memorials. And it asks the city’s leaders to issue a formal apology to those who were tortured and their communities. 

It’s time for Mayor Rahm Emanuel to declare his full support for reparations for police torture survivors and to call for the City Council to pass this ordinance. 

We need your help to pass the ordinance in January. We have three main demands.

On this blog, you will find the full list of alderpeople who have yet to declare their support for the reparations ordinance. If you are represented by one of these alderpeople, please contact them TODAY to ask that they support the ordinance.

If you are not  represented by one of the holdout alderpeople, please thank your representative for their support and call Alderman Ed Burke to ask that he schedule a finance committee hearing in January for the ordinance (312-744-3380).

We also need everyone to contact Mayor Rahm Emanuel to demand his FULL SUPPORT of the ordinance (312-744-3300).

Help us to pass the reparations ordinance THIS JANUARY! It's long overdue.

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List of Alderpeople who DO NOT (Yet) Support Ordinance

**** List of Alderpeople who do not (yet) support the ordinance ****

Natasha Holmes (7th Ward) Anthony Beale (9th Ward) @Alderman_Beale John Pope (10th Ward) @AldermanPope James Balcer (11th Ward) George A. Cardenas (12th Ward) @aldcardenas Marty Quinn (13th Ward) Ed Burke (14th Ward)  @AldermanEdBurke Matthew O-Shea (19th Ward) @mattoshea19 Michael Zalewski (23rd Ward) Deborah Graham (29th Ward) Ray Suarez (31st Ward) Timothy M. Cullerton (38th Ward) Margaret Laurino (39th Ward) Patrick J. O’Connor (40th Ward) Mary O’Connor (41st Ward) @MaryOConnor41 Tom Tunney (44th Ward) @AldTomTunney Debra Silverstein (50th Ward) @Debra4Alderman

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Debra Silverstein, 50th Ward

Debra Silverstein does NOT yet support the reparations ordinance. If you are represented by Alderperson Silverstein, contact her to tell her to support the reparations ordinance. For more details about her (including how closely she votes with Mayor Emanuel), click here.

Office:2949 W. Devon Ave. Chicago, IL 60659 Phone:[phone]

Twitter: @Debra4Alderman

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Tom Tunney, 44th Ward

Tom Tunney does NOT yet support the reparations ordinance. If you are represented by Alderperson Tunney, contact him to tell him to support the reparations ordinance. For more details about him (including how closely he votes with Mayor Emanuel), click here. 

Office:3223 North Sheffield Chicago, IL 60657  [email protected]

Phone:[phone] Fax:[phone]

City Hall Office:121 N. La Salle  Room 300, Office 46  Chicago, IL 60602

City Hall Phone:[phone].744.3133

Twitter:  @AldTomTunney

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Mary O’Connor, 41st Ward

Mary O'Connor does NOT yet support the reparations ordinance. If you are represented by Alderperson Laurino, contact her to tell her to support the reparations ordinance. For more details about her (including how closely she votes with Mayor Emanuel), click here. 

Office:6107 N. Northwest Highway Chicago, IL 60631  Phone:[phone]

Twitter: @MaryOConnor41