It's one of the most horrific things and it happened right in my city. It should be front page news everywhere.

It's the reason we don't have the death penalty in Illinois.

And they have a tough, dangerous, job. Or something.

They covered it up and denied it for twenty years, until the statute of limitations ran out. After that the only thing they could charge him with was lying about the torture, which didn't carry such a long sentence.

but he was frightened and made some bad choices. Entirely excusable, of course.

Me think people are FINALLY getting it!

Hopefully the "thought advances" will advance, eventually, into the minds of those running the nation.

Turn off your TVs. It's all BS. And Obama had done absolutely NOTHING to even give the appearance that he has tried to change any of it. In fact, he promotes policies that are even making it worse. Hillary will do the same. Pretending electing a corporate democrat will have a positive effect is a naive pipe dream. Get a Progressive in there or expect our party to bifurcate like the Tea Party phenomenon on the Right. Real liberals aren't going to take this crap anymore.

US Attorney General Eric Holder will resign from his position as the head of the Justice Department, staying on only until a successor is named. As Holder departs, he leaves behind a civil rights legacy that includes some of the broadest steps in recent decades to dismantle — or at least lessen — the racial disparities in America's criminal justice system.

The reforms tackled major issues within the US justice system such as mass incarceration, the war on drugs, and harsh local policing. These issues had gone largely unquestioned by Holder's tough-on-crime predecessors, despite some of the deep racial disparities they helped create.

Holder has weathered controversy after controversy during his tenure: his handling of national security and surveillance issues, his decision to try 9/11 plotters like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in New York City, and his unwillingness to prosecute big banks. Then there was the controversy surrounding Fast and Furious, a sting operation in which, as the Los Angeles Times explained, federal officials "purposely allowed licensed firearms dealers to sell weapons to illegal straw buyers, hoping to track the guns to Mexican drug cartel leaders and arrest them." But, as Politico's Glenn Thrush wrote in a recent profile, there's a simple reason why President Barack Obama has stood behind him: "Holder has been willing to say the things Obama couldn't or wouldn't say about race."

http://www.vox.com/2014/9/25/6844003/Eric-Holder-resignation-Department-of-Justice-race-civil-rights-war-on-drugs-prison-police

I don't know what planet you live on but these reforms are shallow and have had almost ZERO effect on changing mass incarceration. The Feds are PAYING police depts to arrest as many people for drugs that they can. And incarceration rates for drugs are still climbing. I know many people who have done years in these private prisons and come out a hollow shell because to save $ they don't feed or give blankets to prisoners. Conditions are ripe for revolt. Stop patting yourself or Holder on the back for doing NOTHING. They oppose medical marijuana and legalization and they keep and support Michelle Leonhart as DEA head even though she believes marijuana is worse than heroin or pills. These actors are all in the pockets of BigPharma. And I question that you fall for the GoodCop/BadCop routine so easily. Do you have any experience in the real world concerning what's happening on the ground in the Drug War? It's getting worse not better. Ferguson should never have happened and Obama gives a centrist speech and hope no one noticed his administration is arming these police depts. I could go on and on. You are way off my friend. We don't need people excusing these atrocious policies.

He wouldn't prosecute HSBC bank for large scale money laundering and drug distribution while supporting federal policies of pressuring families to cannabalize each other by threatening to prosecute parents if their kids don't cooperate all while seeking long prison terms and seizing (stealing) peoples homes. Yes federally he was willing to let people APPLY to shave one year off for every 5 years unjustly held. Wow...the scared little mouse says a few things one in a while his Boss won't say about race. Really? That's the big accomplishment? That's courage? A quip? You gotta be kidding me? We truly are screwed if you think that means anything. I remember real activists fighting for change and the sacrifices they made. These guys will get paid handsomely giving speeches, sitting in multiple corporate boards and being consultants. It's the banality of evil all over again...friendly fascism that's fine as long as it's stamped with a smiley face or an agreeable speech. I often wonder if it's more than money that motivates this egregious behavior...perhaps NSA/FBI/DEA really does have embarrassing wiretaps or emails on these guys and use it as leverage to keep the forfeiture and incarceration dollars flowing.

Or, 12.8 days more than anybody in the Bush Admin ever got in jail, but still far too little.

" because the statute of limitations on the torture has run out. "

So, how long is it, anyway, before the law feels torture didn't really happen?

Of course.

Sick...he should NEVER see the light of day again IMO.

Words cannot describe this one..

Here is what he did/who he was:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Burge

Accused of Stealing a Backpack, High School Student Jailed for Nearly Three Years Without Trial

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025610794

burge was not convicted of torture. by the time the crimes "surfaced" the statute of limitations had run out. victims trying to sue have lost because of this.

he WAS convicted of covering up for officers in his command. that is what the prison term was for.

i'm not saying this is right. i am just pointing out that he was never convicted on torture charges.

I'd say that's the problem in a nutshell.

-- Mal

just the cover up. at least he served. im thinkin he didnt have mush fun.