Illinois Tag

Jussie Smollett Must Pay Chicago $138,000 on Thursday or Face Civil Lawsuit

Posted by Mary Chastain on April 04, 2019 22 Comments

Last week, the State's Attorney's office in Cook County dropped the felony charges against Jussie Smollett for allegedly pulling off a fake racist and homophobic attack. A few days later, Mayor Rahm Emanuel asked Chicago's Law Department to send Smollett a letter that demanded he pay back the city $138,000 to cover the costs of the investigation.

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FBI to Review Charges Dropped Against Jussie Smollett Hate Crime Hoax

Posted by Kemberlee Kaye on March 28, 2019 25 Comments

The Jussie Smollett case stinks to high heaven. So much so that when charges were dropped, even Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and Chicago's police chief held a press conference lambasting the decision. More on that here.

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Chicago Police Release Jussie Smollett Investigation File

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 27, 2019 63 Comments

The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is not holding back its anger over the State's Attorney dropping all charges and sealing the case of the alleged race crime hoax that involved Empire actor Jussie Smollett. CPD released all of its investigation files on Smollett's case.

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Charges Dropped Against Jussie Smollett in Chicago

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 26, 2019 138 Comments

Cook County prosecutors have decided to drop disorderly charges against Empire actor Jussie Smollett "for allegedly staging a phony attack and claiming he was the victim of a hate crime." More from TMZ:

Jussie and his lawyers ran to court Tuesday morning in Chicago, where he was facing 16 felony counts of lying to police in the alleged racial and homophobic attack.

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U. Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Ignores Student Demands to Divest from Fossil Fuels

Posted by Mike LaChance on March 18, 2019 2 Comments

"Fossil fuels account for approximately 63.5 percent of the United States’ generation of electricity"...

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Grad Employee Union at U. Illinois Urbana-Champaign Petitions to Remove Job Postings for ICE, DHS

Posted by Mike LaChance on March 17, 2019 4 Comments

“U of I should not allow a racist and abusive organization to recruit students”...

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Jussie Smollett Indicted by Grand Jury on 16 Felony Counts

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 08, 2019 14 Comments

A grand jury in Cook Country has indicted Empire star Jussie Smollett on 16 felony counts for filing a false police report. Smollett had only received one felony charge for this last month. He claimed two white men in MAGA hats attacked him, yelling racist slurs.

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Jussie Smollett Removed From Empire’s Final Episodes

Posted by Mary Chastain on February 22, 2019 4 Comments

"...

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Prosecutors: Jussie Smollett Ordered Brothers to Yell, ‘This is MAGA Country’

Posted by Mary Chastain on February 22, 2019 71 Comments

The prosecutors in the case against Empire actor Jussie Smollett released their bond proffer, which provides evidence that he filed a false police report. The prosecutors wrote that Smollett instructed brothers Abimbola "Abel" and Olabinjo "Ola" Osundairo to attack him, place a noose around his head, pour bleach on him, and also yell, "This is MAGA country!"

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Jussie Smollett Under Arrest on Felony Charge for Filing False Police Report

Posted by Mary Chastain on February 21, 2019 64 Comments

Empire actor Jussie Smollett turned himself into the Chicago Police Department early Thursday morning after the Cook County States Attorney charged him with a class 4 felony on Wednesday for filing a false police report. CPD Supt. Eddie Johnson said "Smollett paid $3,500 to stage the attack because he was dissatisfied with his salary." Smollett will appear in court at 1:30PM CT.

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Chicago Police: Felony charges approved “against Jussie Smollett for Disorderly Conduct / Filing a False Police Report”

Posted by Mary Chastain on February 20, 2019 36 Comments

Empire actor Jussie Smollett has been charged with filing a false police report. He is expected in court on Thursday at 1:30PM CT.

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Report: Illinois Third Most Corrupt State, Chicago the Most Corrupt City in America

Posted by Fuzzy Slippers on February 16, 2019 4 Comments

"The group used the most recent figures from the Department of Justice's Public Integrity Section"...

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Illinois Lawmaker Proposes Gun Law That Requires a Buyer’s Social Media History

Posted by Mary Chastain on February 08, 2019 17 Comments

Just weeks after Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzer signed a restrictive gun law, Illinois State Democratic Rep. Daniel Didech proposed a new one that would require buyers to reveal their social media history. From CBS Chicago:

“This is something my community is demanding action on,” said Rep. Daniel Didech (D-Buffalo Grove).

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U. Chicago Student Paper Reports That School President Voted Republican

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 08, 2019 0 Comments

"gasp!"...

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Illinois Wesleyan U. to Honor MLK Day With Gender Identity Teach-in

Posted by Mike LaChance on January 07, 2019 1 Comment

"the social justice struggle to make the movement for Black liberation more radical, more queer, and more feminist"...

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Chicago Women’s March Canceled Amid Anti-Semitism, Nation of Islam Controversy

Posted by Mary Chastain on December 26, 2018 12 Comments

The organizers of the Women's March in Chicago have canceled the 2019 march due to the anti-Semitic views of Linda Sarsour and Tamika Mallory at the national level. The ties to Nation of Islam and hatred of Jews by the leaders is nothing new to us at LI, but since Tablet magazine's investigation, the fallout continues and no one can ignore the truth anymore.

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Northwestern Student Op-Ed: ‘I deserve to feel safe on campus’

Posted by Mike LaChance on November 26, 2018 4 Comments

Numerous women have been harassed on campus lately....

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Law of Self Defense: Road Rage Stabbing Acquittal Touches Many Facets of Self-Defense Law

Posted by Andrew Branca on November 22, 2018 18 Comments

I came across this recent very brief, four paragraph, news story out of Illinois a few days ago of a defendant acquitted in a bench trial on several felony charges after he stabbed someone 10 times with a 2.5” knife during a road rage incident. I noted that it conveniently provided a good basis for discussing several interesting legal points that often arise in cases of self-defense.

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