Jussie Smollett ReleasedBy Rod Dreher
March 17, 2022
A black law professor at Georgetown wrote in the Washington Post that Jussie Smollett, the felonious hoaxer, should not go to jail? Why not? Excerpts:
I don’t believe Jussie Smollett but I recognize when a Black man gets railroaded through a justice system that is out to get him. A rich entitled actor is hardly the most sympathetic face of reform. Still, Smollett’s case demonstrates that when powerful elites decide they want a Black man locked up, nothing and nobody — not even the elected prosecutor — will stop them.
Butler believes Smollett committed the crime, but thinks he shouldn’t pay for it because he’s black? Really? Really. More:
Sending a Black gay man to jail for lying about being attacked will not encourage hate crime victims to come forward. Instead, it sends the message that they, rather than their assailants, are subject to being incarcerated if authorities don’t believe their stories. The most victim-sympathetic response would have been for the police to express disappointment in Smollett’s false report, but to let the community know that other allegations would receive the same intense response that Smollett’s had.
Butler’s argument is that they singled out poor gay black famous Jussie to be made an example of. Nowhere does Butler acknowledge why that might be. It’s because Smollett made the rounds of national talk shows to discuss how he had been beaten by two mysterious MAGA supporters, and how he was the face of the victims of white supremacy. He exploited his celebrity and the nation’s racial sensitivity to boost himself and to gin up hatred of Trump supporters. That’s why he had to be made an example of.
Well, it looks like Georgetown law professor and self-appointed tribune of the celebrity oppressed Paul Butler has received his fondest wish:
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I suppose he could ultimately be compelled to serve his sentence, but I find it impossible to believe that if he were a normal man, and not a black gay celebrity, that he would receive such kid gloves treatment by the Illinois appeals court. To be a black gay liberal celebrity, though, is to hit the ruling-class trifecta in sacredness, though. If Jussie were trans, the state would have sent a Rolls-Royce limo to pick him up at the jailhouse.
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Source:
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/jussie-smollett-released/
