Home > Blog > Judge: Victims Tortured by Cop Can’t File Class-Action Lawsuit

More than a dozen men who claimed a former Chicago police commander tortured and severely beat confessions out of them will not be able to band together to file a class-action lawsuit, a judge in Illinois ruled recently.

The case, which has garnered national media attention, is one of the most sensational incidents involving torture by a police official. Burge and his men reportedly abused and tortured suspects for years, sending men to prison for crimes they didn’t commit. The case is one that attracts the attention of personal injury attorneys such as Kirkendall Dwyer LLP — whose job is it is to get justice for clients has been wrongfully treated.

Former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge is currently serving four and a half years in federal prison for lying about the torture of men over 20-plus years, media reports say. Some of the men are still in prison. The judge said the victims’ cases are too different to have their cases presented together.

Though the judge said that the 15 to 25 men who have torture cases against Burge and his men cannot file lawsuits together, he appointed a law school dean to oversee the identification of more victims and indicated that free counsel will be assigned to them to help them sort their cases out. The goal is to get people who are wrongfully imprisoned out of jail and get their convictions cleared from their record — like one man who got a rape conviction thrown out.

Sometimes victims are in situations where they don’t think anyone will believe them or that they don’t have a chance to make their voices heard. Personal injury attorneys at Kirkendall Dwyer LLP will listen to you during a free consultation and discuss your options.  Call 877-503-1595 to speak to an attorney.