Support letters for convicted ex-Ald. Edward Burke to be made public in advance of sentencing

Letters in support of convicted former Chicago Ald. Edward Burke will be made public in advance of his June sentencing, his attorneys and prosecutors confirmed Tuesday.

The agreement came after several letters sent on Burke’s behalf were posted on the federal court docket under seal.

Last week, attorney Steven Mandell filed a motion on behalf of the Sun-Times and WBEZ  arguing there is a longstanding presumption under the First Amendment that such letters should be open to public scrutiny, particularly if the judge is going to consider them in fashioning a sentence for a high-profile defendant like Burke.

“The authors of the letters in this proceeding are likely to include public figures or officials, who have the means to respond to any controversy, and the public has a heightened interest in knowing their statements as well,” Mandell argued in the filing Friday.

In court Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall said three of the letters had come directly to her chambers and that she put them under seal “out of an abundance of caution” in case there was personal or sensitive information in them.

Burke’s lawyer, Robin Waters, said their team is still cultivating a much larger batch of letters that will be filed with the court, and that except for minor redactions like medical information, home addresses or birth dates, or information about minors, they will be fully available on the public docket.

“The vast majority will be fully unredacted,” Waters said.

Burke, 80, was convicted in December of racketeering conspiracy, federal program bribery, attempted extortion, conspiracy to commit extortion and using interstate commerce to facilitate an unlawful activity.

Kendall is scheduled to sentence him June 24.

The issued of letters being withheld from the public came up recently in the case against another high-profile defendant, Tim Mapes, the former chief of staff to House Speaker Michael Madigan who was convicted of lying to a federal grand jury.

Letters were submitted ahead of Mapes’ sentencing last year were initially filed under seal, but were later made public in redacted form by order of U.S. District Judge John Kness.

Among those who supported Mapes were Illinois Appellate Court Justice David Ellis, who once served as Madigan’s chief House counsel, and former Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Kilbride, who received millions of dollars from Madigan-backed campaign contributions over three races for the high court.

Multiple ex-legislators also sent letters, as did Karen Yarbrough, the then-Cook County clerk who died on April 7.

Mapes was ultimately given 30 months in prison.

jmeisner@chicagotribune.com