Let’s talk about the Jussie Smollett case. Let’s talk about his alleged actions, the decision about how best to prosecute and resolve the case, and the implications for our Chicagoland community.
There was considerable evidence, uncovered in large part due to the investigative work of the Chicago Police Department, suggesting that portions of Smollett’s claims may have been untrue and that he had direct contact with his so-called attackers. Claims by Smollett or others that the outcome of this case has “exonerated” him or that he has been found innocent are simply wrong. He has not been exonerated; he has not been found innocent.
Falsely reporting any crime is itself a crime; falsely reporting a hate crime is so much worse, and I condemn in the strongest possible way anyone who does that. Falsely reporting a hate crime causes immeasurable harm to the victims of actual crimes, whether because they are less likely to be believed or, worse, because they are afraid to report their crimes in the first place for fear of not being believed.
So, why isn’t Smollett in prison or at least on trial? There are two different answers to this, both equally important.
First, the law. There were specific aspects of the evidence and testimony presented to the office that would have made securing a conviction against Smollett uncertain. In determining whether or not to pursue charges, prosecutors are required to balance the severity of the crime against the likelihood of securing a conviction. For a variety of reasons, including public statements made about the evidence in this case, my office believed the likelihood of securing a conviction was not certain.
In the interest of full transparency, I would prefer these records be made public. However, in this case, Illinois law allows defendants in certain circumstances to request that public records remain sealed. Smollett chose to pursue that avenue, and so my office is barred from releasing those records without his approval.
Another key factor is that the crime here was a Class 4 felony, the least serious category, which also covers things like falsely pulling a fire alarm in school and “draft card mutilation.” These felonies are routinely resolved, particularly in cases involving suspects with no prior criminal record, long before a case ever nears a courtroom and often without either jail time or monetary penalties. Any prosecutor, law-enforcement leader or elected official not grandstanding or clouded by political expediency understands the purpose of sentencing guidelines.
But more important than the dispassionate legal justification, there was another reason that I believe our decision not to prosecute the case was the right one.
Yes, falsely reporting a hate crime makes me angry, and anyone who does that deserves the community’s outrage. But, as I’ve said since before I was elected, we must separate the people at whom we are angry from the people of whom we are afraid. I am angry at anyone who falsely reports a crime. I am afraid when I see a little girl shot dead while sitting on her mother’s lap. I am afraid when I see a CPD commander slain by a four-time felon who was walking the streets. I am also afraid when I see CPD resources used to initially cover up the shooting death of Laquan McDonald.
I was elected on a promise to rethink the justice system, to keep people out of prison who do not pose a danger to the community. I promised to spend my office’s finite resources on the most serious crimes in order to create communities that are both safer and fairer.
Our community is safer in every sense of the word when murderers and rapists are locked away. But we can’t allow fearmongers to devalue the tremendous progress we’ve made in the last year. Since taking office, I’ve sought to employ alternative prosecutions, diversions, alternate outcomes and other forms of smart justice, and it has been working — violent crime in Chicago is down overall. In addition to the benefits of smart justice on recidivism and keeping families together, it also creates bandwidth for my office to dedicate more resources to combating not only truly violent crimes but also the opioid crisis, holding big banks accountable for their actions, protecting consumers from data breaches and other critical work.
Since it seems politically expedient right now to question my motives and actions, and those of my office, let me state publicly and clearly that I welcome an outside, nonpolitical review of how we handled this matter. I am not perfect, nor is any other prosecutor out there, but ensuring that I and my office have our community’s trust is paramount.
As a public figure, Smollett’s alleged unstable actions have probably caused him more harm than any court-ordered penance could. None of that, though, should detract from two facts that must be able to coexist: First, falsely reporting a hate crime is a dangerous and unlawful act, and Smollett was not exonerated of that in this case. Second, our criminal justice system is at its best when jails are used to protect us from the people we rightly fear, while alternative outcomes are reserved for the people who make us angry but need to learn the error of their ways without seeing their lives irrevocably destroyed.
Previous posts about Jussie Smollett:
February 22: What Jussie Didn't Know
March 1: A Hollywood Hoax?
March 27: An Editorial From The Chicago Tribune
Jussie didn't win an NAACP award last night, which is probably a good thing. In an earlier post I wrote that the award would be given out during the live show tonight, but it turns out that was wrong. Some of the awards were given out at a dinner last night:
"Empire" actor Jussie Smollett skipped the NAACP Image Awards Dinner on Friday night as controversy continued to swirl around the dismissal of felony charges against him for false reporting of a hate crime.
Jussie didn't win an NAACP award last night, which is probably a good thing. In an earlier post I wrote that the award would be given out during the live show tonight, but it turns out that was wrong. Some of the awards were given out at a dinner last night:
"Empire" actor Jussie Smollett skipped the NAACP Image Awards Dinner on Friday night as controversy continued to swirl around the dismissal of felony charges against him for false reporting of a hate crime.
... Smollett, who stars as Jamal Lyon on the Fox series, had flown to Los Angeles on Wednesday, sparking rumors he might be in attendance at the awards show. Smollett was nominated for best supporting actor in a television drama for his role on "Empire" -- an award he has been nominated for four years in a row and won in 2017.
Jesse Williams, of "Grey's Anatomy," won the award on Friday night as part of the untelevised awards portion of the show. The rest of the awards will be given away live on TV One [tonight.] (From ABC News, read more here.)
Will Jussie attend tonight's event? Stay tuned.
Saturday afternoon update. More about how State's Attorney Kim Foxx came to be talking to a member of the Smollett family; as you read, keep in mind that at the time of these events, the Osundairo brothers were still in Nigeria and Jussie was considered to be the victim of a hate crime:
Tina Tchen's longtime friend wasn't surprised the former Obama administration aide helped connect Jussie Smollett's family with a top Illinois prosecutor.
Saturday afternoon update. More about how State's Attorney Kim Foxx came to be talking to a member of the Smollett family; as you read, keep in mind that at the time of these events, the Osundairo brothers were still in Nigeria and Jussie was considered to be the victim of a hate crime:
Tina Tchen's longtime friend wasn't surprised the former Obama administration aide helped connect Jussie Smollett's family with a top Illinois prosecutor.
Weeks before a grand jury indicted Smollett on the theory he falsely reported being the victim of a hate crime, relatives of the actor, who is black and gay, had expressed to Tchen "concerns about the investigation" by Chicago police.
Getting the right person to take those sort of concerns seriously has been a hallmark of Tchen's career, highlighted by a stint as then-first lady Michelle Obama's chief of staff and now by her work leading a probe of workplace culture at the Southern Poverty Law Center.
"Long before Black Lives Matter, long before Time's Up, long before #MeToo, we were aware of how difficult it is to be believed as a woman, as a gay, as a black," Tchen's friend, Marilyn Katz, said. "Our whole lives have taught us that lesson."
But the involvement of Tchen, a Harvard graduate who earned her law degree from Northwestern University, in the Smollett case has sparked accusations of favoritism, particularly after the office of Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx this week dropped 16 felony charges of disorderly conduct against Smollett. In exchange, he agreed to forfeit his $10,000 bail and complete community service.
Tchen, 63, said her contact with Foxx on behalf of Smollett's family was not intended to influence the case's outcome.
"I know members of the Smollett family based on prior work together," she said this week in a statement.
"Shortly after Mr. Smollett reported he was attacked, as a family friend, I contacted Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx, who I also know from prior work together. My sole activity was to put the chief prosecutor in the case in touch with an alleged victim's family who had concerns about how the investigation was being characterized in public."
That explanation, however, hasn't quieted calls for investigations into whether Smollett got off easy because of his fame and well-placed connections, perhaps including Tchen.
Smollett's camp denies the claims. Tchen did not respond beyond her statement to CNN's request for comment.
Smollett told police two men attacked him on January 29, yelling racist and homophobic slurs while striking him. He said the assault ended with a noose placed around his neck and a chemical poured on him.
Tchen reached out to Foxx just three days after the attack report, according to text and email messages obtained by CNN through a public records request. She wrote that the family had "concerns about the investigation."
Foxx emailed Tchen later that day, saying in part, "Spoke to the (Police) Superintendent (Eddie) Johnson. I convinced him to Reach out to FBI to ask that they take over the investigation. He is reaching out now and will get back to me shortly."
On that same day, another person, identified by Foxx's office as a Smollett family friend, texted the prosecutor to ask whether they could talk by phone, the records show. "Tina Tchen gave me your number," the friend wrote.
Hours later, Foxx responded by text to the family friend, whose identity is redacted in the public records.
"Spoke to the superintendent earlier, he made the ask. Trying to figure out the logistics. I'll keep you posted," the prosecutor wrote.
"Omg this would be a huge victory," the family friend responded.
"I make no guarantees, but I'm trying," Foxx replied.
Chicago police have said the FBI "has been involved since Day One ... providing technical assistance to our officers" in the Smollett case. Johnson has said he was "amenable" to talking about having the FBI lead the Smollett investigation but police and federal officials decided it would be most appropriate for Chicago police to stay at the helm, he told USA Today. (From CNN, read more here.)
The irony here is that if Foxx really was giving Jussie special treatment by dropping the charges, either because of his celebrity or because of his political connections, it sure backfired. The resulting outrage has put him and his actions under an even brighter spotlight, and not to his benefit. As I said in an earlier post (read it here,) if his attorneys have any kind of credible evidence to offset the narrative that Jussie was not exonerated and is not innocent, the time to make it public is now.
Update #2, late Saturday afternoon. Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson has issued a statement in response to State's Attorney Foxx's commentary:
Update #3 on Sunday morning. Apparently Jussie did not attend the NAACP Awards event last night; it's interesting that producers felt compelled to issue instructions that there be no Jussie Smollett jokes:
Despite support from Anthony Anderson, Jussie Smollett was a no-show at Saturday night's NAACP Image Awards in Hollywood.
The "Empire" actor was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, but lost out to “Grey’s Anatomy” star Jesse Williams. Williams won the award during the untelevised portion of the show at the awards dinner Friday, which USA TODAY confirmed Smollett also did not attend.
But that didn't stop Chris Rock from taking aim.
"They said 'No Jussie Smollett jokes,' " said Rock, who was there to present Outstanding Comedy Series. But that didn't stop him. "What a waste of light skin," Rock cracked. "Do you know what I could do with that light skin? That curly hair? My career would be out of here! I'd be running Hollywood."
"What the hell was he thinking? You're 'Jessie' from now on," Rock continued, as cameras showed Trevor Noah cracking up in the crowd. "You don't get the 'u' no more. That 'u' was respect. You ain't getting no respect from me!" (From USA Today, read more here.)
TMZ has the video, see it here.
And one more thing: When you've lost Saturday Night Live...
Between Chris Rock and SNL, I think it's safe to say, once again, that Jussie Smollett is not having a good day.
Update #2, late Saturday afternoon. Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson has issued a statement in response to State's Attorney Foxx's commentary:
Chicago Police Department Superintendent Eddie Johnson issued a statement on this earlier today. pic.twitter.com/NPjHKibAev— Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) March 30, 2019
Update #3 on Sunday morning. Apparently Jussie did not attend the NAACP Awards event last night; it's interesting that producers felt compelled to issue instructions that there be no Jussie Smollett jokes:
Despite support from Anthony Anderson, Jussie Smollett was a no-show at Saturday night's NAACP Image Awards in Hollywood.
The "Empire" actor was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, but lost out to “Grey’s Anatomy” star Jesse Williams. Williams won the award during the untelevised portion of the show at the awards dinner Friday, which USA TODAY confirmed Smollett also did not attend.
But that didn't stop Chris Rock from taking aim.
"They said 'No Jussie Smollett jokes,' " said Rock, who was there to present Outstanding Comedy Series. But that didn't stop him. "What a waste of light skin," Rock cracked. "Do you know what I could do with that light skin? That curly hair? My career would be out of here! I'd be running Hollywood."
"What the hell was he thinking? You're 'Jessie' from now on," Rock continued, as cameras showed Trevor Noah cracking up in the crowd. "You don't get the 'u' no more. That 'u' was respect. You ain't getting no respect from me!" (From USA Today, read more here.)
TMZ has the video, see it here.
And one more thing: When you've lost Saturday Night Live...
Between Chris Rock and SNL, I think it's safe to say, once again, that Jussie Smollett is not having a good day.
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