Following up on that, he is out pending appeal. NY Times article, probably paywalled.
An Illinois appellate court ruled Wednesday that the actor Jussie Smollett be released from jail on bond pending his appeal of his conviction for falsely reporting that he had been the victim of a hate crime.
Mr. Smollett was sentenced last week to five months in jail, but his lawyers quickly asked a panel of judges to stay the sentence while they appealed the conviction.
Mr. Smollett’s lawyers had argued in court papers that the sentence should be stayed because his term would likely be finished before his appeal was completed and that being incarcerated threatened his health and safety.
On Wednesday night, Mr. Smollett walked out of Cook County Jail with supporters at his side.
Being ‘connected’ to powerful people never stops paying dividends. This fellow is so connected the legal system is going to great lengths to appear to be tough and legit, all while also leaving the door open a crack, so he can quietly slink away from any actual consequences. Like people haven’t seen this crap enough to recognize exactly how this plays out, and why.
Solitary confinement is inhumane with a high risk of causing permanent psychological harm. In fact, the UN has classified more than 15 consecutive days of solitary confinement as torture.
Get educated on what solitary confinement is and entails in the real world or remain ignorant. This article by the SPLC is a good place to start. Spoiler: it ain’t good.
I am allowed to have my preference about whether I would personally prefer solitary confinement vs. forced close contact with a large number of scumbags (or a large number of anyone). It is not “ignorance” and the study doesn’t mean jack shit to my preferences.
I’m confused. Are you saying solitary confinement is no big deal or actually a reward?
A “preference” to be waterboarded doesn’t mean waterboarding isn’t torture (if there in fact exist people who don’t mind or in fact want to be waterboarded).
First, I am not and did not claim that in general solitary confinement is better for people than mixed confinement, I stated nothing more than what I would prefer. If you thought I was saying that, then you were confused. If you are trying to put words in my mouth, I’m not playing along with you.
What I am saying is that I would literally rather be dead than live in a general population prison. I would also literally rather be dead than live in a military barracks, or in the type of college dorm that packs people in like cattle. I, me, personally would choose solitary 1000 times out of 1000 rather than one of those situations. And that has nothing to do with any UN report, so you can drop the baiting me.
Why should we care about your preference? Why did you state it in the first place? The only reason I can think of is that since you think solitary confinement is literally the only thing that would prevent people like yourself from killing yourselves in prison, it would be immoral to abolish it. What is wrong with this logic?
This is something known as a “message board” or “forum”. People use them to discuss topics that catch their interests. That includes making personal interjections, off-the cuff remarks, and anecdotes.
Okay. This is like people discussing waterboarding and you coming in a telling everyone the only thing that would prevent you from killing yourself if abducted would be the waterboarding if it was done.
Kinda strange but whatever rocks your boat I guess. But it does give the impression you think solitary confinement really isn’t that big of a deal or even better than anything else if forced to be in a prison.
Your subsequent post does suggest you are quite unhinged through since no mentally sound person would kill themselves rather then spend some months to a few years in a military barracks. Would you have killed yourself if you would have been drafted anytime when non-voluntary conscription still existed? Sounds pretty unpatriotic and (unAmerican if you’re American) if you ask me.
Did Darren_Garrison say anything about killing themselves? You mentioned that you think that the only thing that would prevent someone like Darren from killing themselves is solitary confinement and then went on to say he’s unhinged since no mentally sound person would do that. That, in and of itself is a strawman, but then you took it a step further, suggested he’d kill himself if he was drafted and accused him of being unAmerican.
On the other hand, making a big deal in court while on TV that you’re “not suicidal” and implying your at risk of being murdered by officialdom while in custody and you don’t leave the authorities much choice other than putting you in a room by yourself under 24/7 observation - because if they don’t and something happens there will be hell to pay.
While most people find solitary confinement extremely difficult there is a sub-set that actually do prefer it. Charles Harrelson being an example. He comment about being held in the Florence Supermax was “there are not enough hours in a day for my needs as a matter of fact … The silence is wonderful.” I think it’s safe to say Mr. Harrelson was not a typical human being. He might even qualify for your adjective “unhinged”. There was, after all, a reason he wound up in a Supermax.
There is also a distinction between punitive isolation and protective isolation, or at least there should be. Punitive isolation frequently involves not just isolation from others but a distinct lack of anything to do with one’s time and no communication with anyone. Protective isolation (at least in theory) is to protect a vulnerable inmate from others who might harm them and is supposed to (in theory) allow activities to occupy the person’s mind and time and the ability to communicate with others.
Now, in reality, some prisons don’t seem to make any distinction and those who should be protected are treated as if they should be additionally punished and that is unquestionably wrong, and others who you would expect would be cut off seem to continue to have some privileges (such as Harrelson, who had contact with friends and family) but the later might be due to good behavior in inmates who still need to be held in maximum security.
In any case, I’d solitary confinement is a big deal. I could also go on and on with a lot of what’s wrong with the US “justice” system, incarceration, and so forth, but I really don’t care to go on at this point.
