Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/03/26/jussie-smollett-cleared-on-all.html
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Humbabella called it…
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Can’t wait for the cacophony of sincere apologies from the racists and other bigots who couldn’t contain their glee over the false report charges…
I expect it to sound something like a field full of crickets. 
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What I never completely understood, was if he was accused of faking a public attack by white guys, why would he have hired black guys?
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Oh, wait, he’s been charged again.
Not really, but nothing about this case would surprise me at this point.
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Wait, so because no charges were filed, he must be innocent right?
Are we talking about Smollett or Trump?
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He forfeited a $10K Bond.
IL States Atty declined to press any charges claiming he already did “Community Service” and that would have been the only punishment if convicted.
This seems more like a Plea Bargain, except it is not.
Except why would he agree to forfeit $10K?
Nothing on this story has EVER made sense since it was first reported.
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I hate modern outrage cycles.
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This is genuinely bizarre and nothing about this makes much sense going back to day 1. I see nothing in any of breaking news articles that indicate why the charges are dropped. Did the brothers recant? Was there some kind of egregious misconduct in the investigation that the SA’s have to run away from? Why is everyone being so vague in their statements? This is just weird on every level, and the records being sealed only adds another layer.
What the hell actually happened?
ETA: Apparently the police department had no advance notice of the charges being dropped and the superintendent learned about it as the public did. That’s incredibly unusual given the relationship between the SA’s office and the police.
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Ah, so this is all that “privilege” that people talk about, right?
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Before we declare him suspicion-free, consider: State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office says, “After reviewing all of the facts and circumstances of the case, including Mr. Smollett’s volunteer service in the community and agreement to forfeit his bond to the City of Chicago, we believe this outcome is a just disposition and appropriate resolution to this case.” The statement is consistent with what our sources said about Jussie only getting community service if he’d been convicted.
What this says is that if successfully prosecuted, Smollett would have paid a fine and done community service. Since he forfeited his bond, he has basically paid a fine. Further, he has already done the community service. So prosecuting in court would waste resources. This is hardly a stunning rebuke of the charges against him.
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Acording to Smollett’s attorney:
internal investigation launched to investigate the outrageous leaking of false information by the Chicago Police Department
If true, it seems pretty crazy (what’s the motive to leak a false story?)… but then again, the Chicago PD and States Attorney don’t have a great reputation. My guess is that the police messed up by leaking real info for the lulz and could now get in trouble, so the SA is making it all go away…
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We should be clear: we have no idea right now what this is saying. Non-prosecution agreements of the type you’re talking about aren’t reached in emergency hearings, and they aren’t done without giving the police superintendent who is personally invested in the case a heads up first. When the same people who (over)charged 16 felony counts drop them this dramatically with no explanation, something fucked up is/was going on.
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Smollett charges dropped “not part of a deferred prosecution”
She clarified it is “not part of a deferred prosecution” and there “is no deal.”
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So was he attacked?
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Yeah, the more I learn about this case, the less sense any of it makes to me. 
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I’m going to go with some new kind of quantum privilege from the future.
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EZ cheat sheet:
Smollet: Charges were filed. They were later dropped.
Trump: No charges were filed.
You’re welcome! 
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to sum up the entire Smollett case from beginning to end…
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