As published by the Houston Chronicle
Timothy P. O’Neill, a professor at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago for more than 33 years, has been named an alternate to the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission.
O’Neill is an expert in the areas of criminal law and criminal procedure. Prior to joining the John Marshall faculty, he was a Cook County Assistant Public Defender for six years. Continuously since 1994, he has written a monthly column on criminal law for the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.
“I am excited to be part of a process that is correcting some long-ignored abuses here in the Chicago criminal justice system,” he said.
The Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission is a state agency that was created in 2009 to review claims resulting from the coerced confessions obtained by Chicago Police detectives through the use of torture. The torture claims come from the 1980s and 1990s and focus on then-Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge and officers under his command; Burge was convicted by a jury in 2010 (United States Court of Appeals For the Seventh Circuit No. 11-1277) and sentenced to 4.5 years in prison. The Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission has eight members and two alternates and began receiving claims in 2011, with more than 200 claims received and still being processed.
O’Neill’s appointment will run through the end of 2018.