No one saw this strange new ruling coming. It’s taken everyone by surprise.
And now Americans are furious after the Supreme Court overturns a previous big ruling.
In a significant legal development, the Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the conviction of Jussie Smollett, the disgraced actor who had been found guilty of staging a fake hate crime against himself in 2019. Smollett’s conviction was overturned on the grounds that his rights were violated when a special prosecutor decided to retry him, despite the Cook County State Attorney’s Office having already dropped the charges.
The court’s ruling emphasized that while the case had generated considerable public interest and dissatisfaction with the original outcome, it would be more unjust to allow the state to disregard agreements that people had relied upon. “We are aware that this case has generated significant public interest and that many people were dissatisfied with the resolution of the original case and believed it to be unjust,” the court noted.
“Nevertheless, what would be more unjust than the resolution of any one criminal case would be a holding from this court that the State was not bound to honor agreements upon which people have detrimentally relied,” the Illinois High Court added in their argument.
BREAKING: Illinois Supreme Court overturns actor Jussie Smollett's 2019 conviction on allegations of staging a racist and homophobic attack against himself. pic.twitter.com/vsRklMh7ZV
— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 21, 2024
Smollett’s legal troubles stem from a false report he made to the Chicago police in January 2019. He claimed that two men had attacked him, shouting racial and homophobic slurs, while wrapping a rope around his neck during the assault. Smollett told police the incident occurred in the middle of a freezing Chicago night, while he was out purchasing a Subway sandwich in the upscale neighborhood of Streeterville.
Initially, the police investigated the alleged assault, but soon their focus shifted toward Smollett, especially after they began to question the circumstances surrounding the attack. Investigators ultimately determined that Smollett had orchestrated the hoax, paying two brothers, Ola and Abel Osundairo, $3,500 to stage the attack. This revelation pointed to the claim as a meticulously planned scheme to gain attention.
Despite the overwhelming evidence, Cook County prosecutors initially dropped the charges against Smollett, citing his forfeiture of a $10,000 bond and his completion of community service. This decision was met with widespread public backlash, prompting former Cook County Judge Michael Toomin to appoint a special prosecutor, former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb, to further investigate the case.
Webb refiled the charges, but Smollett’s legal team successfully argued that retrying him violated the Fifth Amendment’s double jeopardy clause, which protects against being prosecuted twice for the same offense.
“It defies credulity to believe that defendant would agree to forfeit $10,000 with the understanding that CCSAO could simply reindict him the following day,” the Illinois Supreme Court stated.
Smollett had been found guilty in 2021 on five counts of disorderly conduct for the false report. In March 2022, he was sentenced to 150 days in jail, 30 months of probation, and was ordered to pay restitution of $120,000 and a criminal fine of $25,000. However, the actor was never incarcerated, as he had been released on a personal recognizance bond pending the appeal.
During sentencing, Judge James Linn denounced Smollett for his premeditated actions, calling him a “charlatan” who fabricated a hate crime to gain attention. “You’ve been lying and lying and lying about this case,” the judge remarked, noting that the evidence against him was “overwhelming.”
In response to the news, many political commentators are noting how unfair it seems that anyone is getting away with clearly staging a fake hate crime considering the major consequences that would have if it were a real hate crime. There seems to only be consequences for the hate crime perpetrators and not the individuals who fake them.
Illinois's joke of a Supreme Court can throw out Jussie Smollett's conviction, but they can't throw out what all of us know: That Smollett is a liar who committed a fake "hate crime" to defame half of America as violent, hateful racists.
Thankfully, Smollett's stunt ruined his…
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) November 21, 2024
The Conservative Column will update you on any further updates in the Jussie Smollett legal case.
