Chicago Police Torture and the Limits of Human Rights Enforcement in Liberal Democracies

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2024

Publisher

Cambridge University Press

Source Publication

Perspectives on Politics

Source ISSN

1537-5927

Original Item ID

DOI: 10.1017/S1537592724001385

Abstract

From 1972 to 1991, a network of Chicago Police detectives used torture to force confessions from over 100 criminal suspects. Almost all were Black men, and many were wrongly convicted, some for capital offenses. I synthesize insights from comparative research on human rights, state abuse, and police violence in democracies to explain why, for nearly two decades, liberal institutions in Chicago failed to stop the torture. I argue that the nature of state violence in this case—targeting marginalized individuals uninvolved in political activity—intensified the practical, affective, and informational obstacles that are inherent to activating liberal institutions—courts, elected officials, media, and civil society—to fulfill their roles as rights enforcers. Applying these literatures to a type of case they typically overlook—a wealthy liberal democracy—contributes to understanding why state violence persists in such states and why it tends to concentrate on marginalized populations.

Comments

Perspectives on Politics, 2024 (online before print). DOI.

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS