Chicago Takes New Legal Action Against Jussie Smollett

The City of Chicago announced on Thursday that it is filing a civil lawsuit against Jussie Smollett after the actor refused to reimburse the city for costs associated with the investigation of his alleged hate crime hoax.

Chicago sent Smollett a letter in late March demanding that he pay $130,000 to offset costs of attack investigation, saying: “This is a reasonable and legally justifiable amount to collect to help offset the cost of the investigation.” . . .

“Mr. Smollett has refused to reimburse the City of Chicago for the cost of police overtime spent investigating his false police report on January 29, 2019,” Bill McCaffrey, City of Chicago Department of Law, said in a statement. “The Law Department is now drafting a civil complaint that will be filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County. Once it is filed, the Law Department will send a courtesy copy of the complaint to Mr. Smollett’s Los Angeles-based legal team.”

“The Law Department will file the suit in the near future. As part of this legal action, the Law Department will pursue the full measure of damages allowed under the ordinance,” the statement continued. “The City of Chicago and Chicago Law Department will not have any further comment at this time.” . . .

“We cannot create the perception that if you’re rich or famous or both that you got one set of justice and for everybody else, it’s something much harsher. That won’t do, and we need to make sure that we have a criminal justice system that has integrity,” [Chicago Mayor] Lightfoot said in an interview. “The state’s attorney’s office has to provide more information about the rationale for the decision to drop the charges.” (Read more from “Chicago Takes New Legal Action Against Jussie Smollett” HERE)

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