March 6, 2010 | Events

Revealing the Human Side of Torture Scandal

Journalist John Conroy wrote 'My Kind of Town' after covering scandal for 20 years

By Hilary Hurd Anyaso

CHICAGO --- The Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law's Bluhm Legal Clinic will present a free stage reading of award-winning journalist John Conroy's new fictional play about police torture, "My Kind of Town."

The event, free and open to the public, will be held from 6 to 8 p.m., Monday, March 8, at the Thorne Auditorium, Northwestern University School of Law, 375 E. Chicago Ave.

Conroy covered the Chicago police torture scandal for more than 20 years. "My Kind of Town" follows the perpetrators, victims and families involved.

Set in Chicago between 1982 and 2006, a young prosecutor must decide whether to accommodate the torturers; the family of a torturer debates his role in the atrocities; and the parents of a not-so-innocent victim argue whether to fight to save their troublesome son. Thomas Weitz directed the play.

"The Center on Wrongful Convictions has worked for years to secure justice for the victims of police torture," said Rob Warden, executive director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions. "We are sponsoring this reading because the play reveals the human dimension of the torture scandal in a way that even the best journalism cannot."

A video about the play is available at: www.youtube.com/user/wrongfulconvictions#p/a/u/0/jumZkwEJwnw