Were our criminal justice system better at balancing the severity of the crime with the severity of the punishment, Jussie Smollett would be staring at a serious prison sentence. But it’s not, so he isn’t. Instead, this leftist, this narcissist, this shameless perjurer, this unrepentant racial and political arsonist will probably get probation.

Still, a conviction is a conviction. As The Wall Street Journal reports:

Actor Jussie Smollett was found guilty of lying to police when he reported being the victim of a hate crime early one morning near his apartment nearly three years ago.

A Cook County jury on Thursday found Mr. Smollett guilty of five of the six counts of felony disorderly conduct against him. Each count carries up to three years in prison, although he could also face probation based on his lack of previous felony convictions.

Mr. Smollett showed little reaction as the verdicts were read. The jury deliberated for about nine hours over two days before rendering its verdict.

Nine hours? They shouldn’t have been out for nine minutes. How long does it take to read six counts and say “Guilty” after each one? As the Journal continues: “Count six charged Mr. Smollett with falsely reporting that he was the victim of aggravated battery to an officer on Feb. 14, 2019. [The prosecutor] said he didn’t want to speculate as to why the jury had found Mr. Smollett not guilty on count six.”

If you’re just tuning in, the preposterous story that Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi, Pete Buttigieg, Sandy Cortez, Gavin Newsom, Maxine Waters, Eric Swalwell, Cory Booker, Adam Schiff, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders fell for hook, line, and sinker goes something like this: On January 29, 2019, two Trump-supporting, MAGA-hat-wearing thugs were out at 2 a.m. on the coldest night of the year in a trendy part of downtown Chicago, when they happened to spot a bundled-up third-rate actor from a decidedly non-Trumpy TV series emerging from a Subway restaurant down the street. So they called out to him with some racist and homophobic slurs as they approached, then they beat him up, put a noose around his neck, poured bleach on his head, and shouted that this neighborhood, which had probably gone 85-15 for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in 2016, was “MAGA country.”

Hey, what’s not to believe?

“What happened today to Jussie Smollett must never be tolerated in this country,” said then-candidate Biden, who would go on to abuse social media again later that year by defaming a 17-year-old kid named Kyle Rittenhouse. “We must stand up and demand that we no longer give this hate safe harbor; that homophobia and racism have no place on our streets or in our hearts. We are with you, Jussie.”

Are you still with him, Mr. President? Because we haven’t heard much from you lately.

Then-candidate Kamala Harris also weighed in, but she did Biden one better by dialing up the racial rhetoric and vouching for her friend’s character: “Jussie Smollett is one of the kindest, most gentle human beings I know,” she posted. “I’m praying for his quick recovery. This was an attempted modern day lynching. No one should have to fear for their life because of their sexuality or color of their skin. We must confront this hate.”

Well, Kamala? What say you now?

We could do this all day, but let’s take just one more: “Jussie is my friend — a very talented and beautiful human being,” said age-old race-baiting California Congresswoman Maxine Waters. “It is so hurtful that homophobic haters would dare hurt someone so loving and giving. I’m dedicated to finding the culprits and bringing them to justice. Jussie did not deserve to be harmed by anyone!”

It’s good to know that Maxine is “dedicated to finding the culprits,” those hurtful hurters who hurt Jussie. Perhaps one day, though, she’ll come to realize how foolish her friend made her look, and how much damage he did by making a mockery of hate crimes.

Ah, hate crimes. Sure, they exist, but they don’t occur nearly as often as those in Big Race would wish. In fact, the hoaxes far outweigh the real thing. Think about it: Were real hate crimes more prevalent, there’d be no need to fake them. OutKick’s Clay Travis put it in simple economic terms: “The demand for racist hate far exceeds the supply of any racist hate incidents.”

Columnist Victoria Taft has collected eight recent hoaxes here. They include the one at Providence College, the one at East Carolina University, the one at Emory, the phony “tortilla attack” in Coronado, California, and more.

What’s that? You hadn’t heard about any of these? We wonder why. If you’ve got a few days to kill, here’s a more comprehensive list of hate crime hoaxes.

After yesterday’s verdict was read, the legal team of the disgraced gay actor was mumbling something about an appeal, but that had to be bluster. No sentient being believes this guy’s story, and everyone knows he got a fair trial. Heck, if Smollett has a beef, it ought to be with his own legal team, whom he should sue for malpractice. It was those geniuses, after all, who let their idiotic client take the stand in his own defense.

In many ways, Smollett is like O.J. Simpson, but without the charisma, the acting ability, and the mad-dog murdering streak. He’s a pampered celebrity who thought the rules of decency didn’t apply to him. Maybe he can befriend The Juice and learn how to play golf. Better yet, maybe now he’ll just go away and never come back.

We can dream, can’t we?