Torture panel short on cash

CHICAGO – A commission created by Gov. Pat Quinn nearly two years ago with the ambitious goal of righting the wrongs of Chicago’s police torture scandal is quietly falling apart, another apparent victim of the state’s budget mess.

The Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission hasn’t even met since August or reviewed a single case. It is operating with a quarter of the money commissioners sought, which has delayed the hiring of a staff attorney.

Jeanette Plummer’s son Johnny, who at age 15 was arrested for two murders, is among the dozens of current inmates – most of them black – who claim they were beaten or tortured until they confessed to crimes they didn’t commit. She questions if officials really want to learn the truth about a scandal that plagued the police department for nearly three decades.

“They don’t want these people to get out of jail,” Plummer said. “How would they feel if somebody had them locked up?”

The commission was tasked with reviewing torture claims related to now-incarcerated former Chicago police Lt. Jon Burge and his officers, with priority given to allegations by men who are incarcerated. Commissioners can collect evidence of torture and recommend to trial court judges that the cases be reopened.

Instead, commissioners are stalled, bogged down by complicated state rules and not enough money.

“[Lawmakers] got a little media bounce when they created the commission, and they’ve left us high and dry,” said DePaul University law professor Leonard Cavise, a member of the panel who is awaiting word on whether he will be reappointed.

“This is a commission that is absolutely necessary to investigate a very important social and judicial and law enforcement problem,” Cavise said. “To let its existence be put into jeopardy by what I presume is executive oversight or somebody’s neglect is inexcusable.”

While a state Supreme Court decision last week in the case of one of the incarcerated men could revive the appeals of the others, the commission plays an important role in getting lawyers and resources for inmates whose cases have languished, advocates said.

At the last meeting in August, Chairman Patricia Brown Holmes notified the commission that its budget for fiscal year 2012 had been cut from $600,000 to $150,000, according to meeting minutes.