Jussie Smollet

[BIG APPLE CAT]

He definitely needs to serve some jail time if for no other reason than to deter other people from doing this too.

I can't get over this. Is the police scouring video for they old black rules man, a good use of their time? Is this going to be something enforced and punished with equity? Unlike what the snow roach in Central Park did to the bird watcher, this wasn't even a crime against a person. If we're going to put liars in jail, there are a lot more harmful lies out there than what this was.

the only thing that bothers me is the timeline of everything. Like if he decided to try to mount a vigorous defense for himself and it fell flat, okay, whatever. But he got caught with his entire ass out, the court basically was like "alright look this can all just go away and you have to do like 16 hours of community service and that's that" and he agrees...so then after getting away with quite figuratively the softest slap on the wrist you can get...he decides nah, i actually am a victim here, lets effin go.

like bruh you got caught making crap up, instead of getting dragged they let this slide, you agreed to let it slide...and then you just - what? decided even though i completely made this whole thing up and everybody knows i made the whole thing up i think i'm going to go ahead and double down? That's the part that gets me. like this whole trial didn't even need to happen. it was a done deal, it was settled, and i think for the most part the public had moved on but Jussie couldn't leave it alone.

[steve dave]

Yeah, I think it’s well documented that he is not a great planner

[ChiComCat]

I think Jussie committed one of the most egregious possible examples of the crime, showed no remorse, and continued to double down on the lies throughout the trial.  It seems like his crime warrants one of the harsher punishments for the crime. Whether jail time should be a punishment for this crime is a fair argument.  Punishments with fines are mostly just deterrents for poor people.   I think a millionaire needs a punishment beyond a fine but I'd be okay with that being a crap ton of community service.  He probably also needs some court-ordered therapy too.  I think his decisions throughout show a certain detachment from reality which I do think could make him a risk to public safety in some ways, but therapy would be more effective in handling it than prison.

[catastrophe]

Prison in general is really a crappy solution to everything other than keeping people out of the general public. I can’t imagine how you could argue that’s necessary or even useful in a case like this.

I really think anyone advocating for incarceration for stuff like this probably hasn’t spent more than 5 minutes trying to understand how our prison system works.

[chum1]

i'm going to go ahead and double down? That's the part that gets me. like this whole trial didn't even need to happen. it was a done deal, it was settled, and i think for the most part the public had moved on but Jussie couldn't leave it alone.

What was his doubling down here? I'm not that familiar with the story, but couldn't figure that out from the timeline below. It seems like the police and government officials were pretty motivated solely by the fact that charges were dropped.

https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-47317701

[Institutional Control]

He definitely needs to serve some jail time if for no other reason than to deter other people from doing this too.

I can't get over this. Is the police scouring video for they old black rules man, a good use of their time? Is this going to be something enforced and punished with equity? Unlike what the snow roach in Central Park did to the bird watcher, this wasn't even a crime against a person. If we're going to put liars in jail, there are a lot more harmful lies out there than what this was.

Ok, we'll just let people continue to make up fake crimes.

[catastrophe]

The damage done by making up fake crimes is nowhere even remotely close to the damage done by our ridiculous incarceration rate.

[catastrophe]

And really, I’d say putting fewer people in prison is probably a much better way to address the hypothetical risk of false police reports.

[Spracne]

The damage done by making up fake crimes is nowhere even remotely close to the damage done by our ridiculous incarceration rate.

I share your thoughts on this subject. People who reflexively scream to lock people up for non-violent crimes have no clue about the inter-generational toll that mass incarceration has on families and communities, particularly minority and poor communities. The fact that we are jailing so many people for years or even decades for being addicts is particularly shameful.

[Institutional Control]

What types of punishment are we suggesting for non-violent criminals?

[ChiComCat]

Community service and restorative justice

[BIG APPLE CAT]

i'm going to go ahead and double down? That's the part that gets me. like this whole trial didn't even need to happen. it was a done deal, it was settled, and i think for the most part the public had moved on but Jussie couldn't leave it alone.

What was his doubling down here? I'm not that familiar with the story, but couldn't figure that out from the timeline below. It seems like the police and government officials were pretty motivated solely by the fact that charges were dropped.

https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-47317701

huh. well as i had understood it Jussie had been telling anyone willing to listen that he had done nothing wrong after the initial charges were dropped and he paid his fine and did his community service. Honestly I cannot corroborate whether or not that is true, and I admit I took that information at face value. I guess in my mind it made sense that the City of Chicago wasn't going to be so catty as to keep drumming up fines/charges just b/c they were mad, but rather because he was being a dick about it.

like that one episode of seinfeld where the tennis pro milosh actually really sucked at tennis but he didn't want to be emasculated in front of his wife so he begged jerry to let him win, so jerry agreed and was letting him win but then milosh started talking a lot of trash and calling jerry a baby to the point that jerry got really annoyed and eventually stopped letting milosh win.

[MadCat]

What types of punishment are we suggesting for non-violent criminals?

Jury duty

[8manpick]

I’ve mentioned it before, but the night Jussie staged this it was -25F (real temp, not wind chill). Coldest in decades. Chicago basically closed for two days. No one was out walking around, it was super obvious this didn’t happen as described from day one.

[MakeItRain]

He definitely needs to serve some jail time if for no other reason than to deter other people from doing this too.

I can't get over this. Is the police scouring video for they old black rules man, a good use of their time? Is this going to be something enforced and punished with equity? Unlike what the snow roach in Central Park did to the bird watcher, this wasn't even a crime against a person. If we're going to put liars in jail, there are a lot more harmful lies out there than what this was.

Ok, we'll just let people continue to make up fake crimes.

He was the only "victim," who cares. The CPD saying they would have dropped the charges if he apologized tells you all you need to know about the severity of this crime.

[dal9]

He definitely needs to serve some jail time if for no other reason than to deter other people from doing this too.

I can't get over this. Is the police scouring video for they old black rules man, a good use of their time? Is this going to be something enforced and punished with equity? Unlike what the snow roach in Central Park did to the bird watcher, this wasn't even a crime against a person. If we're going to put liars in jail, there are a lot more harmful lies out there than what this was.

Ok, we'll just let people continue to make up fake crimes.

He was the only "victim," who cares. The CPD saying they would have dropped the charges if he apologized tells you all you need to know about the severity of this crime.

those  nigerian  brothers were victims too, making them go outside on a terribly cold night

[Spracne]

30 months probation
Approx. 145K in fines/restitution
First 150 days of probation in confinement in Cook County Jail (just shy of 5 months)

I watched the lengthy sentencing hearing. It was mostly boring legal stuff, but holy crap the ending was wild. After the sentence was rendered, the judge asked Smollett if he had anything to say. He kept yelling, "I am NOT suicidal. I am NOT suicidal. If anything happens to me in jail, just know that I am NOT suicidal." He also repeated multiple times that he was innocent. The suggestion seemed to be that if any harm befalls him in custody, it's some sort of conspiracy to harm him. Ugh. Pretty ugly scene. After he was being escorted out of the court room and into sheriff's custody, he raised his right fist and again chanted, "I am NOT suicidal. I am innocent. I am NOT suicidal!"

Whoah boy. I am worried about the state of his mental health. 

[Kat Kid]

A lot of people are asking questions that are clearly answered by him shouting “I am NOT suicidal! I am innocent!”

[Spracne]

A lot of people are asking questions that are clearly answered by him shouting “I am NOT suicidal! I am innocent!”

Mind you, no one asked or argued about whether he was suicidal before that point. Completely out of left field.

[Kat Kid]

When I loudly declare “My penis works fine!” At the doctors, my doc is reassured and doesn’t question why I am doing that.

[8manpick]

A lot of peen talk out of Kat Kid this week

[nicname]

He must have been paying attention to the Epstein-Maxwell saga.

[8manpick]

Would be some dark irony if he was found to have “hung himself” given his story that got him jailed in the first place

[steve dave]

Whoa, we talking dongs ITT? Alright!

[MakeItRain]

Jail time is rough ridin' absurd