Claude Marks

Legacy of Torture: The War Against the Black Liberation Movement

Andres Alegría, Claude Marks

Legacy of Torture chronicles a case that began in 1971 when thirteen alleged “Black militants” were arrested and tortured to obtain confessions. In 1975, a Federal Court in San Francisco threw out all of the evidence obtained in New Orleans. 34 years later, in 2005, two lead San Francisco Police Department investigators from over 30 years ago, along with FBI agents, have re-opened the case. Rather than submit to proceedings they felt were abusive of the law and the Constitution, five men chose to stand in contempt of court and were sent to jail. They were released when the Grand Jury term expired, but have been told by prosecutors that "it isn't over yet."