Robert Nixon and Police Torture in Chicago, 1871-1971

by Elizabeth Dale

Overview

In 2015, Chicago became the first city in the United States to create a reparations fund for victims of police torture, after investigations revealed that former Chicago police commander Jon Burge tortured numerous suspects in the 1970s, '80s, and '90s. But claims of police torture have even deeper roots in Chicago. In the late 19th century, suspects maintained that Chicago police officers put them in sweatboxes or held them incommunicado until they confessed to crimes they had not committed. In the first decades of the 20th century, suspects and witnesses stated that they admitted guilt only because Chicago officers beat them, threatened them, and subjected them to "sweatbox methods." Those claims continued into the 1960s.

In Robert Nixon and Police Torture in Chicago, 1871–1971, Elizabeth Dale uncovers the lost history of police torture in Chicago between the Chicago Fire and 1971, tracing the types of torture claims made in cases across that period. To show why the criminal justice system failed to adequately deal with many of those allegations of police torture, Dale examines one case in particular, the 1938 trial of Robert Nixon for murder. Nixon's case is famous for being the basis for the novel Native Son, by Richard Wright. Dale considers the part of Nixon's account that Wright left out of his story: Nixon's claims that he confessed after being strung up by his wrists and beaten and the legal system's treatment of those claims. This original study will appeal to scholars and students interested in the history of criminal justice, and general readers interested in Midwest history, criminal cases, and the topic of police torture.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780875807393
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	05/25/2016
Edition description:	1
Pages:	184
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Elizabeth Dale is professor of history and law at the University of Florida. She has written a number of books on law and history, including The Chicago Trunk Murder and Criminal Justice in the United States, 1789–1939. She was a civil rights lawyer in Chicago before attending graduate school.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Police Torture in Chicago before Jon Burge 1

Chapter 1 Police Torture in Chicago, 1871-1936 5

Chapter 2 Murder in Black and White 28

Chapter 3 On Trial 53

Chapter 4 Appeal 83

Chapter 5 Patterns and Practice, 1936-1971 102

Conclusion: The Burden of Proof 121

Notes 125

Selected Bibliography 141

Index 147

Acknowledgments 153

What People are Saying About This

Michael J. Pfeifer

Dale offers a highly readable, well-researched analysis of an important criminal case with a fresh perspective. What is especially impressive is the book's accessibility and its use of the particular case of Robert Nixon as a window into the history of police torture in the US.

Editorial Reviews

In this short and accessible book, historian Elizabeth Dale places contemporary discussions of race and police violence into larger historical context.

Journal of Illinois History

Elizabeth Dale has performed a service in writing this book. It is a welcome reminder of the bad old days of policing-days that one would hope are behind us now, provided we remain vigilant.

H-Net Reviews

"Dale offers a highly readable, well-researched analysis of an important criminal case with a fresh perspective. What is especially impressive is the book's accessibility and its use of the particular case of Robert Nixon as a window into the history of police torture in the US."—Michael J. Pfeifer, author of Rough Justice: Lynching and American Society, 1874–1947

"In this short and accessible book, historian Elizabeth Dale places contemporary discussions of race and police violence into larger historical context."—Journal of Illinois History

"Elizabeth Dale has performed a service in writing this book. It is a welcome reminder of the bad old days of policing-days that one would hope are behind us now, provided we remain vigilant."—H-Net Reviews

From the Publisher