Following an emergency appeal to an Illinois state appellate court, actor and convicted hate-hoaxer Jussie Smollett has been freed from jail while the court weighs his claim that he was unconstitutionally charged twice for the same crime. Last December, Smollett was tried and found guilty on five counts of felony disorderly conduct for his role in concocting an alleged hate crime in Chicago in 2019. Last week, Smollett was sentenced to serve 150 days in jail and 30 months of felony probation, as well as ordered to pay restitution and a fine totaling $155,000.

Evidently, that relatively light sentence — considering the lie he perpetrated upon the American public — was still too much for the narcissistic, victim-identifying Smollett, who was escorted out of the court dramatically declaring that he would not kill himself. His family and lawyer quickly asserted that Smollett would not be safe in jail, claiming that he had received threats of physical harm. However, one can be forgiven for not believing Smollett’s tale, as the man has repeatedly proven himself to be a liar, even maintaining despite all the evidence to the contrary that he is innocent of his hate-crime hoax.

So, is Smollett’s release a case of a leftist court seeking to avoid implementation of the law because Smollett checks the right victimology boxes as both a racial minority and a homosexual? While it’s certainly tempting to believe that to be the case, the court’s decision is not necessarily a miscarriage of justice.

Smollett has been released after posting a bond of $150,000, which he will recoup if he submits to the court. Furthermore, the question the court is dealing with is not a question of Smollett’s guilt but rather whether his trial is an instance of double jeopardy.

“Three years ago,” Smollett’s legal team contends, “Jussie and the State of Illinois reached a deferred prosecution agreement in which he paid a $10,000 fine and performed community service. As a result, the case was dismissed. To be recharged and prosecuted for the exact same thing, a second time, is not just morally wrong, but certainly double jeopardy and thus unconstitutional — especially as it concerns an innocent man.”

Smollett’s legal team may have a point, which is likely why the court had him released from jail until it decides the issue. Much of this present situation lies at the feet of Chicago’s top prosecutor, Kim Foxx, who agreed to the aforementioned strange deal but never officially entered a plea.