We are a nonprofit journalism production company on the South Side of Chicago. We work to enhance the capacity of citizens to hold public institutions accountable.
Among the tactics we employ are investigative reporting, multimedia storytelling, human rights documentation, the curation of public information, and the orchestration of difficult public conversations.
Our work coheres around a central principle: we as citizens have co-responsibility with the government for maintaining respect for human rights and, when abuses occur, for demanding redress.
RECENT REPORTING
PROJECT HIGHLIGHT: Chicago Police Torture Archive
Some of the survivors featured in the Chicago Police Torture Archive.
The Chicago Police Torture Archive is a resource for anyone seeking to understand the legacy of police violence in Chicago and the ongoing fight against it. Developed in collaboration with survivors, attorneys, journalists, and organizers, the archive the Chicago Police Torture Archive serves as a human rights documentation of former Commander Jon Burge’s violence against more than 100 Black people, from the 1970s to the 1990s.
At the heart of this site are the profiles of police torture survivors, most of whom were represented by the People’s Law Office of Chicago. Drawing from legal records and case files from the People’s Law Office, the archive exposes the systemic nature of police torture, the public officials who enabled it, and the efforts of those who fought in the ongoing struggle to bring truth to light, demand accountability, and secure reparations.
In 2015, the City of Chicago passed unprecedented legislation granting reparations to Black people tortured by Burge and a group of detectives under his command. These reparations include required teaching about the history of police torture for eighth and tenth grade students in Chicago Public Schools, a formal apology from Chicago City Council, free community college education for survivors and their families, a financial compensation fund of $5.5 million, a permanent public memorial to torture survivors, and a dedicated counseling center.
Two years later, in 2017, the People’s Law Office donated its files to the Pozen Center for Human Rights at the University of Chicago. The Pozen Center then gave the files to the Invisible Institute to digitize and curate the legal archive and make it accessible to the public, ensuring that the stories of those impacted remain part of the public record. This collection—consisting of legal documents, testimonies, and investigative materials—traces the decades-long struggle for justice. While these documents provide critical insight, they are not exhaustive; many cases remain unresolved are continue to be adjudicated in the courts or through the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission.
The Chicago Police Torture Archive is not just an acknowledgement of past harms — it is a tool for justice. Education about police torture empowers learners to recognize injustice and demand accountability. By learning about the survivors, their families, and the organizers who fought reparations, students and community members can see the power of collective action in achieving justice. We encourage educators especially to explore the featured videos, activism history page, and our "resources" tab to go deeper with your teaching.
INVISIBLE INSTITUTE WINS TWO PULITZER PRIZES
Today the Invisible Institute was awarded two Pulitzer Prizes. The team behind You Didn’t See Nothin – Yohance Lacour, Sarah Geis, Erisa Apantaku, Dana Brozost-Kelleher, Bill Healy, and Alison Flowers, with editorial support from Jamie Kalven – won the Pulitzer Prize for Audio Reporting. And trina reynolds-tyler and Sarah Conway of City Bureau were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting for their series Missing in Chicago.
IMPACT HIGHLIGHTS
The impact of our work is not always immediate.
Since the publication of Jamie Kalven’s investigation, “Code of Silence,” in 2016, Cook County has overturned more than 212 convictions linked to former CPD-sergeant Ronald Watts–the largest mass exonerations in Cook County history. “Code of Silence” also precipitated the firing of Ernest Brown, the former deputy superintendent of CPD from his post as executive director of Homeland Security for Cook County. It has prompted multiple ongoing official investigations, including one by the Department of Justice.
Five years after Alison Flowers and a co-author published a Chicago Reader investigative story about how Illinois’ felony murder law can obscure police misconduct, a bill that passed in 2021 amended the state’s damaging and expansive felony murder statute. Restore Justice Illinois advocated for the reform, relying heavily on Invisible Institute reporting to argue its merits.
The Invisible Institute launched the Civic Police Data Project in 2015, which makes hundreds of thousands of Chicago Police complaints available to the public. Seven years after its launch, the site continues to be used by over 89,000 Chicagoans each year, including public defenders and reporters who use it to support their day-to-day work. Some of its highest traffic came in 2020 when Chicagoans relied on the tool to look up officers during protests after the murder of George Floyd.
FROM THE ARCHIVE
The Chicago Police Torture Archive is a human rights documentation of former Commander Jon Burge’s violence against more than 100 Black men, from the 1970s-1990s. The journalistic centerpiece of this site are the profiles of police torture survivors, most of whom were represented by the People’s Law Office of Chicago.
Tortured by police in 1988, Marvin Reeves served 21 years in prison until declared innocent and released in 2009.
On September 11, 2013, the Chicago City Council approved settlements of $6.15 million each in wrongful conviction lawsuits by Marvin Reeves and his fellow torture victim Ronald Kitchen.
Later the same day, Mayor Rahm Emanuel issued the city’s first official apology for a 40-year history of torture and coverup, most notoriously by former Cmdr. Jon Burge and his detectives, calling it “a stain on the city’s reputation.”
Reeves’ ordeal began on August 26, 1988. At the time he was a 29-year-old father, an alley mechanic and sometime tow truck driver, living on the South Side with his girlfriend, who was pregnant with a son who Reeves wouldn’t see for two decades. “I found I was able to make honest money, pay my bills and feed my kids,” Reeves said in an interview with the Invisible Institute in 2017. “It was an honest job that paid an honest dollar.”
A permanent memorial to honor survivors of Burge police torture is currently in process. Stay up to date on the permanent memorial process by following the work of the Chicago Torture Justice Memorials Foundation.
Landing page photo by Patricia Evans (1993) in the Ida B Wells homes, during the last chapter of Chicago's high-rise public housing. Read more about the Ida B Wells homes in the Code of Silence.
Subscribe to our newsletter The View from the Ground for more updates from the Invisible Institute.