Chicago taxpayers are about to get hit with more wrongful conviction settlements.
The City Council’s Finance Committee, on Monday, will once again consider millions of dollars in payouts to people who spent years in prison because of the corrupt actions of disgraced Chicago Police officials.
Should the full council approve the nearly $40 million in the latest round of police settlements, as expected, it likely won’t be the last time Chicagoans will be forced to pay for the misconduct of Reynaldo Guevara, Ronald Watts, Jon Burge and others who tarnished their badges.
We can put our money on that.
One of the four largest settlements on the Finance Committee’s agenda Monday is not tied to a wrongful conviction: the case of Lakisel Thomas, who was killed crossing the street when she was hit by a car driven by a man fleeing police in Englewood.
But the other three settlements — with Thomas Sierra, Mark Maxson, Ben Baker and Clarissa Glenn, for a combined $33.75 million — are connected to the infamous Guevara, Watts and Burge.
We wouldn’t be surprised if some Chicagoans are numb by now from hearing and reading about the numerous wrongful conviction lawsuits and resulting settlements paid to men and women who said they were framed or beaten into confessing to crimes they didn’t commit.
“Stories of exoneration of such torture victims have appeared in the media so frequently that many of us have become desensitized to their impact upon us as a civilized society as well as to their historical significance,” lawyers for Maxson, a Burge victim, said in their federal lawsuit against the city.
But the city cannot stop paying attention. It bears repeating that law enforcement abuse, even from decades ago, is not only detrimental to victims but the larger community as well, including good cops who do their jobs with integrity.
Maxson spent nearly 25 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old boy in West Roseland in 1992 — a crime another man confessed to and whose DNA was found on the murdered child’s clothes.
Because he was labeled a child killer and rapist, the exonerated Maxson said he was beaten by other inmates during his stay in prison. He and other victims will never be able to shake off what they endured at the hands of violent police officers.
Many of us worry about the costs of everyday items, like eggs and gasoline, and that’s understandable. But we should also remember that the price of injustice is even higher.
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