Chicago City Council Approves $5.5 Million Reparations Fund for Victims of Police Torture

"Democracy Now!" airs weekdays at 9 a.m. PT on KCET.

Earlier this month, the Chicago City Council approved a $5.5 million reparations fund for victims of police torture. More than 200 people, most of them African-American, were tortured under the reign of Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge from 1972 to 1991. Tactics included electric shocks and suffocation.

The reparations package will provide free city college tuition for victims and relatives, counseling services, a memorial to victims, inclusion of Burge's actions in the school curriculum, and a formal apology.

"Democracy Now!" welcomes Flint Taylor, a founding partner at the People's Law Office who has represented survivors of police torture for more than 25 years, and Darrell Cannon, a former prisoner who spent more than 20 years behind bars after being tortured into confessing to a crime he didn't commit, to discuss the reparations package.