Thursday, March 28, 2019

Jussie Smollett's wrist-slap is a symptom of a much bigger problem in Chicago.

Yesterday, despite overwhelming evidence of Jussie Smollett's guilt, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office moved to end proceedings in the disgraced actor's case in exchange for a few hours of Smollett's "Voluntary" community service and the forfeiture of a $10,000 bond.

The central point of contention-echoed on the evening cable-news shows-was captured in remarks delivered after the announcement by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who told reporters, "You cannot have-because of a person's position-one set of rules applies to them and another set of rules apply to everyone else."

The unfortunate truth is that such leniency isn't rare in Chicago.

Moore, according to the Chicago Tribune, was "a five-time felon with 33 arrests by Chicago police." There is no evidence that Moore had any political clout, yet the decision to parole him so early was an injustice at least on par with how prosecutors handled the Smollett case.

On Independence Day last year, Tayshawn Terry shot at Chicago police officers.

As Johnson noted, Chicago violence is frequently committed by repeat offenders-many released with pending cases, paroled after serving only a portion of their sentences, or given probation despite troubling criminal histories.

While the Jussie Smollett affair is infuriating for many, the leniency of the Windy City's justice system extends well beyond B-list celebrities, and often has fatal consequences.

https://www.city-journal.org/smollet-chicago-justice-system

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