Illinois Supreme Court ruling means Burge can keep his pension

A split Illinois Supreme Court ruling Thursday means disgraced former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge can keep drawing his public pension -- roughly $54,000 a year -- despite a 2010 conviction for lying about the torture of police suspects.

In an opinion authored by Anne Burke, the court ruled that a Cook County court was correct in not allowing Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to intervene in a police pension matter. The decision by the high court means Burge, now serving out his prison sentence, will keep drawing his pension.

Illinois' high court ruled that Madigan did not have the jurisdiction to challenge a police pension board vote that allowed Burge to keep his pension, despite a federal criminal conviction.

http://politics.suntimes.com/article/chicago/illinois-supreme-court-ruling-means-burge-can-keep-his-pension/thu-07032014-808am