Progress Illinois

After almost two decades, and albeit in a roundabout way, justice may finally be served. The Tribune is reporting that U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald had retired Chicago police commander Jon Burge arrested this morning near his Tampa, Florida home.

The official charge is purgery, not torture. Although a 2006 special prosecutor's probe concluded that dozens of suspects had been tortured by Chicago police under Burge's watch, the statute of limitations had expired on those specific charges, resulting in zero legal repercussions for him or his officers. However, Fitzgerald has now charged Burge with lying during a November 2003 civil suit by providing false written answers to questions on his reign of torture. Here's the attorney's statement:

"There is no place for torture and abuse in a police station," said U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald in a news release. "There is no place for perjury and false statements in federal lawsuits. No person is above the law, and nobody -- even a suspected murderer -- is beneath its protection."

Hopefully, the prosecutor's next step will be to reopen investigations into the two dozen men still behind bars for crimes to which they confessed after hours of abuse by Burge's officers. And the city should use this opportunity to make public the names of officers accused of improper conduct, as Ald. Toni Preckwinkle argued in a Progress Illinois column this past April.

To get caught up on Burge's history and legacy, comb through former Reader reporter John Conroy's exhaustive archive.