Chicago Cop’s Legacy Can Be More Than A Four-Year Sentence

Former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in federal prison on Friday, nearly two decades after he was fired from the department for his role in torturing more than a hundred suspects, almost all of them black and many of them completely innocent.

Burge’s four-year sentence drew understandable anger from many, especially among those directly affected by his actions, who are tired of seeing racial injustice punished with a slap on the wrist. Although I can never know what it felt like to fall victim to Burge’s torture, and although I’m a white boy from the suburbs who has no idea what living on the South Side of Chicago in the 1970s felt like, I want to make a challenge those angry with Burge’s sentence.

First, four years is not a slap on the wrist. It’s not an acquittal, and it’s twice as long as sentencing guidelines recommended. Too often, serious misconduct like Burge’s doesn’t even draw an investigation, let along charges and convictions. This measure of justice took too long to come, but it should mean something that it came at all.

And four years doesn’t compare to the unimaginable suffering inflicted by Burge -- torturing dozens of people into false confessions that sent them to prison for life. But of all people, criminal justice reformers shouldn’t be calling for an eye-for-an-eye. We believe in justice, not punishment, right? Shouldn’t we treat our enemies as we would our friends?

And now the challenge: we shouldn’t let the legacy of Burge’s misconduct end with this sentence. Burge’s transgressions have now been acknowledged in a court of law (even if the acknowledgement is a backhanded perjury conviction). This happened 17 years ago, and yet the criminal justice system in Illinois is still badly broken. Another Jon Burge could be working in another department somewhere in Illinois today -- and getting away with it. Let’s turn Burge’s vicious misconduct and his conviction into an opportunity for reform.

We write often here about prioritizing rehabilitation over punishment. Rather than rehabilitating Burge, let’s fix the whole system. Instead of a harsh sentence for this one man, I suggest a harsh sentence for the system.

The first fix to follow Burge’s sentence should be an end to the capital punishment in the state. Burge didn’t flinch as he sent innocent men to death row. If another Jon Burge can happen, and it can, Illinois should never execute anyone ever again. If you’re unhappy with Burge’s four-year sentence, let’s see if we can make a sentencing deal with Gov. Pat Quinn. Four years for Burge and death to the death penalty.

Quinn can end capital punishment in Illinois with a stroke of his pen. Tell him it’s the right thing to do. That will bring another measure of justice to the legacy of Jon Burge.

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Photo Credit: Tripp