He had every opportunity to avoid jail.
If he showed any remorse or took any responsibility at all I bet he avoids jail.
He wouldn't have even been charged if he had acted like any decent, normal human being would have after the story broke.
Y'all are proving my point, don't rough ridin' put people in jail because they hurt feelings or because they don't kowtow to a judge. Rage, you're being way too harsh, almost seems personal. He lied, his crime is that he lied. We don't need to talk about how bad lying is, we all get that, the thing is that everyone lies, I think referring to him as indecent and abnormal because he lied isn't a standard that you have applied equally. Frankly, I think the dude, and others who do similar things, must have some kind of mental issue. I just don't understand what the end goal was to paying two massive dudes to beat your ass then claiming it was a hate crime. There wasn't going to be any arrests that come from this. It's Chicago, how do you not know that there are cameras everywhere? It was just such a ridiculous plan, I don't know how you don't question the sanity of someone who would plot such a thing.
I don’t necessarily disagree with any of this, but I will point out that, AFAIK, insanity was never put on the table either by Smollet or his attorneys.
There is only so much a judge can do with the fact that you blatantly lie in a way that clearly hurts the justice system. I’m personally uncomfortable with a judge or jury offering lenience based on the brashness of a lie where the perpetrator and his attorneys never seek a finding of insanity themselves.
And for full disclosure, I am well aware of the now well documented cases of defendants pleading guilty to crimes they did not commit who were since proven innocent by DNA evidence. It’s a complicated issue for sure.
I still think jail time is unnecessary, but I can appreciate it provided a deterrent benefit without exacting too burdensome a toll on Smollet.
