Justice, but Not in Cicero

In the rioting that swept the all-white Chicago suburb of Cicero when a Negro family tried to move into a local apartment (TIME, July 23), four town officials were flagrant accomplices of the mob. Police Chief Erwin Konovsky warned the Negroes to stay out of Cicero; two other policemen evicted them from the building in advance of the rioting; Town Attorney Nicholas Berkos conspired with police against the unwanted visitors. In Chicago last week, Cicero's four were convicted of crimes carrying maximum penalties of up to two years in prison.

The cops and town attorney were convicted of misdemeanors under a 1948 Federal statute "against depriving citizens of civil rights." The town authorities have taken no effective action against the 126 rioters arrested after the uproar was put down by National Guardsmen. The Negro family involved is living in Chicago, and Cicero is still an all-white town.

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