By Steve Rhodes
“A federal judge has ruled that a lawsuit can go forward accusing former Mayor Richard Daley of ignoring evidence that white Chicago police detectives working under disgraced former police Cmdr. Jon Burge tortured dozens of black suspects into murder confessions,” the Tribune reports.
“U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve’s ruling sets the stage once again for Daley to potentially be forced to give sworn testimony about what he knew of the painful legacy of police torture that first came to light when Daley was Cook County state’s attorney and later exploded during his more than two decades as mayor.
“Twice before, Daley has been ordered to give a sworn deposition in other lawsuits over torture claims, but the city settled those cases before he was questioned under oath.”
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That’s the problem with settlements – good for the parties, bad for the public because we never get to see what would be revealed if cases played out in full. (See the Trump University settlement, for example.)
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“The latest lawsuit alleges Alonzo Smith was beaten by Area 2 detectives Peter Dignan and John Byrne with a rubber nightstick, kicked in the groin and had a plastic bag put over his head to force him to confess to the 1983 slaying of James Fullilove. He filed the lawsuit in March after a Cook County judge found enough credible evidence of torture to grant him a new trial, prompting prosecutors to dismiss the conviction.”
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Previously in the Beachwood:
* Deposing Daley, The Media & The Freeing Of Michael Tillman.
* Daley, Dignan & The Midnight Crew.
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Rahm’s Restaurants
“Less than 44 percent of Chicago restaurants and 24.8 percent of bars are being inspected as often as state law requires – undermining public trust and jeopardizing state funding – because the city’s Department of Public Health is ‘seriously understaffed,’ Inspector General Joe Ferguson has concluded,” the Sun-Times reports.
So the city is violating the law. Has a warrant been issued for Rahm’s arrest?
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“State law requires the city to inspect high-risk food establishments twice a year. The category includes restaurants, hospital kitchens, day care centers and schools that prepare food on site.”
Sure, but how many cities actually meet the letter of the law?
“Ferguson noted that Chicago is the ‘only jurisdiction in Illinois that has failed to comply’ with the state’s inspection frequency regulations for consecutive years.”
Oh.
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What Offshore Tax Havens Cost IL Small Businesses
A lot.
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BeachBook
SPLC Documents More Than 900 Hate Crimes In The 10 Days Following Donald Trump’s Election.
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A Texas Man’s Roadside Message To Muslims.
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Conditions At Illinois’ Sole Women’s Prison ‘Untenable’: Report.
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At 41, Onetime Chicago Bears QB Henry Burris Adds An Exclamation Point To A Great Canadian Career.
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TweetWood
A sampling.
First Amendment is trending on twitter. As with all trending topics, you click to see if it’s dead.
— Jon Lovett (@jonlovett) November 29, 2016
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The @FBI is now openly issuing the general warrants that, in 1760, led John Adams to first dream of independence. https://t.co/VfcohINZdQ https://t.co/wUbOQBlzOu
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) November 29, 2016
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A thread made necessary by the election of an American president. https://t.co/s3s1rEPISm
— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) November 29, 2016
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More fatally flawed than a pussy-grabbing, KKK-endorsed, pathological liar with a business resume pocked by fraud and serial bankruptcies who smeared a Gold Star family and John McCain’s war record while calling Mexican immigrants rapists and proposing a registry for Muslims? C’mon.
The media is an easy scapegoat, but that’s just bullshit. Maybe try running a candidate who isn’t fatally flawed next time.
— Olivia Nuzzi (@Olivianuzzi) November 28, 2016
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Police wrongly arrest black man collecting signatures to run for public office 2 cops placed on leave @GenevieveBook https://t.co/PcUFcCKJMT
— Todd Lighty (@tlighty) November 29, 2016
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The Beachwood Tronc Line: Fatally flawed.
Posted on November 30, 2016

