Brief seeks hearings for inmates who allege abuse

CHICAGO — Attorneys have filed a brief with the Illinois Supreme Court seeking new hearings for 15 incarcerated men who claim they were tortured by convicted Chicago Police Lt. Jon Burge and his officers.

The friend-of-the-court brief was filed Wednesday.

Ex-Gov. Jim Thompson and more than 60 current and former prosecutors, judges and lawmakers are asking for new evidentiary hearings for inmates who say their convictions were based on coerced confessions.

Attorneys say the brief marks the first effort on behalf of alleged Burge victims as a group.

More than 100 men have alleged Burge and his men tortured them from the 1970s to the 1990s.

Burge was convicted last year of lying about whether he witnessed or participated in torture. He's serving a 4 1/2-year sentence in federal prison.