n 2019, actor Jussie Smollett reported that he had been the victim of a racist and homophobic attack in Chicago. The case quickly became a national controversy when investigators alleged that Smollett had staged the incident and falsely reported it to police. He was later convicted of five counts of felony disorderly conduct and sentenced to jail, but in 2024 the Illinois Supreme Court overturned his conviction, ruling that prosecuting him a second time after an earlier agreement with prosecutors violated due process
","author_name":"Elisa Bird"}