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Justice for the Death Row 10!

Governor George Ryan pardoned four members of the Death Row 10 -- Aaron Patterson, Leroy Orange, Madison Hobley and Stanley Howard. That four of the Death Row 10, African American men tortured by Jon Burge and his officers, have been pardoned is a testament to the struggle that the Campaign initiated and has been a major part of locally and nationally for more than four years. Now the dirty secret of what went on at Area 2 and 3 interrogation rooms in Chicago is national and international news. Here is their story. The struggle continues.

click here for more, "A victory for the Death Row 10: The Struggle Continues," New Abolitionist, May 2003.

Jon Burge, former Lieutenant of Chicago's Area II Violent Crimes Detective Unit, was fired from the Chicago police department on February 10, 1993, for torture. Burge was responsible for torturing more than 40 Black men during interrogations.

 

Methods of torture included electric shocks, suffocation hoods, Russian roulette, burns, beatings, and threats of death. The 1989 decision in Wilson vs. City of Chicago brought these facts to light. Burge's reign began in 1973. For twenty years, he received advances, promotions and support from political figures such as former police Superintendent Leroy Martin and Mayor Richard Daley. Through the organizing efforts of committed activists, Jon Burge was dismissed from the Chicago police force.

"The Death Row 10" are men convicted and sentenced to death as a result of the use of torture to obtain "confessions" by the Area II commander and fellow officers.

1. DERRICK KING - February 23, 1980. Threatened and repeatedly beaten in the head.

    

2. REGINALD MAHAFFEY - September 2, 1983. Threatened with a gun pointed at his head, punched, kicked, thrown against a wall, and suffocated with a plastic garbage bag.

    

3. JERRY MAHAFFEY - September 2, 1983. Threatened, kicked, beaten, and suffocated with a plastic garbage bag.

    

4. STANLEY HOWARD - November 1, 1984. Handcuffed to a wall ring, slapped, punched, kicked, and suffocated with a plastic bag and typewriter cover until he passed out.
   [For more info about Stanley Howard, check out his web site at http://members.aol.com/sjhoward10/main.html]
   See also: New Abolitionist, August 2002

    

5. LEROY ORANGE - January, 1984. Pants pulled down, testicles and buttocks electroshocked, needles stuck in his buttocks, and suffocated with a plastic bag.

    

6. LEONARD KIDD - January, 1984. Pants pulled down, testicles and buttocks electroshocked.

    

7. AARON PATTERSON - April 30, 1986. Threatened with a gun, beaten, kicked, and suffocated twice with a typewriter cover during 25 hours of interrogation.

    

8. ANDREW MAXWELL - November 12, 1986. Handcuffed to a wall, threatened, repeatedly kicked, punched and slapped.

    

9. MADISON HOBLEY - January 6, 1987. Handcuffed to a wall ring, threatened, punched in the stomach, chest and face, and suffocated with a typewriter cover until he passed out.
   See also: New Abolitionist, April 2001
   See also: New Abolitionist, August 2002

    

10. GRAYLAND JOHNSON - April 17, 1988. Handcuffed to a wall, beaten with a telephone book, suffocated with a plastic bag, head shoved in toilet full of urine.

     

11. RONALD KITCHEN - August 25, 1988. Handcuffed to a wall, beaten with a telephone book, blackjack and phone receiver, and struck in the groin and knees.
    See also: New Abolitionist, August 2002

In Dear Memory... Frank Bounds was one of the original members of the Death Row 10, who died in prison of medical neglect.

* The number of known Burge victims sentenced to Death Row has grown to 12 since "The Death Row 10" organized themselves in 1998.

JON BURGE'S VICTIMS STILL REMAIN ON DEATH ROW!

Related Stories from The New Abolitionist:
A Burge Torture Victim Speaks Out - David Bates (July 2001)
Activists Win Torture Probe (May 2002)