The Conviction Machine - by Flint Taylor (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A captivating account of the most corrupt and blood-soaked chapters in Chicago law enforcement history

In December 1969, the FBI, the Chicago Police Department, and the office of States Attorney, led by rising political star Edward V. Hanrahan, conspired to assassinate Black Panther leader Fred Hampton, and then flagrantly covered up their misconduct. Thirteen years later, Jackie Wilson was tortured by the same police department and wrongfully incarcerated for thirty-six years.

Drawing on unique insights from his role as a leading opposition lawyer in both cases, award-winning author Flint Taylor details the vast political corruption uncovered in the Hampton case and the twists and turns of Wilson's forty-year effort to win his freedom.

With blistering clarity and righteous indignation, The Conviction Machine shines a penetrating light on the sordid world of prosecutorial misconduct and police violence.

Review Quotes

"In this alarming exposé, civil rights attorney Taylor (The Torture Machine) reveals decades of government collusion to hide evidence of racist police violence in Chicago....The result is a painstaking, vital record of institutionalized corruption." -Publisher's Weekly, Starred Review

"At last, Flint Taylor has given us an intimate, accurate, behind the scenes, forceful portrayal of the murderous machinations of the underbelly of American justice. I've been anxiously awaiting Flint's exemplary work. Taylor vividly expresses the politically motivated, taxpayer-financed, and treacherous shenanigans of our nation's political establishment and its enforcement apparatus; the American police departments, who area all too frequently in cahoots with the FBI, ICE, CIA, etc. Racism is its idealized engine, its raison d^etre.

The assassination of a young brilliant, gifted and courageous Black leader, Fred Hampton, was in a real sense its ultimate achievement. Fred's assignation was not just a localized Chicago travesty of justice. It was the only officially sanctioned taxpayer-financed assassination of an American citizen for political reasons and political objectives by the U.S. Government in American history. And I was to be included in its deadly, deliberate undertaking! Fred's assassination is the framework, the backdrop, the murderous modus operandi that still permeates our American law enforcement policy. Minneapolis and the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by America's police operatives are our most recent reminders that much more remains to be done, and it must be done by the power of the people, common ordinary people.

Thank you, Flint Taylor, for "connecting the deadly dots". The "Conviction Machine" is a must-read for all freedom-loving, justice-seeking, and people-loving people. -Bobby Rush, former U.S. Congressman and former Deputy Minister of defense of the Black Panther Party

"Most often, popular history tells the story of the predator and not the prey. This is not that story.My Brother, Beloved Atty. Flint Taylor is the David who slew the Goliathan: the CHICAGO POLITICAL/POLICE MACHINE. If you keep hope alive and stay in the fight, you will win; even in the face of the most daunting odds and intimidating foes, you will win. This book is your blueprint." -The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, and his daughter, Santita Jackson, Producer/Host of the "KEEP HOPE ALIVE with REV. JESSE JACKSON and the SANTITA JACKSON Radio Shows.

"A masterful chronicle of Fred Hampton's murder and its aftermath, Taylor's insider account reveals the shocking depth of official conspiracy and cover-up while celebrating the tireless advocates who refused to let the truth die with Hampton."
-Chesa Boudin

"Flint Taylor is a gift to Chicago and the nation. This rigorous, unsparing and brilliant dissection of decades-long racism, corruption, and lies by Chicago law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges should be required reading in law schools nationwide. We can only hope it triggers a long overdue reckoning with the true character of our criminal legal system."
-Dr. Martha Biondi, author of The Black Revolution on Campus and We Are Internationalists: Prexy Nesbitt and the Fight for African Liberation

"Flint Taylor exposes the absurd, cowardly and racist machinations of Chicago officials, who permitted police to get away with torture rather than take a stand to stop them. The book reads like a novel by Kafka-except it's true."
-Ben Joravsky, journalist and host of The Ben Joravsky Show podcast


"The Conviction Machine is a scathing, jaw-dropping indict