The Illinois Supreme Court that overturned Jussie Smollett’s conviction today made the ‘disappointing’ ruling off the back of a wave of controversial decisions.
In just the past two years, the seven-member court has eliminated cash bail for criminals in Illinois and upheld a ban on assault weapons in the state, soft-on-crime rulings that angered conservatives.
In the former, the justices ruled that monetary bail is not ‘the only means to ensure criminal defendants appear for trials or the only means to protect the public’, in a move seen in several other Democrat-led states that has drawn scrutiny.
The weapons ban from August 2023 came as the state Supreme Court decided that despite the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution, a ban on assault weapons would not be unconstitutional.
Although the ban received support from top Democrats including Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a federal judge stepped in this week and overturned it – as they slammed the court for impacting ‘tens of millions of law-abiding United States citizens.’
Criticism of the Illinois Supreme Court has now reached fever pitch in the wake of its ruling overturning Smollett’s conviction for lying to the police over a bizarre anti-Trump hoax.
The special prosecutor in Smollett’s case, U.S. Attorney Dan Webb, told DailyMail.com in a statement that the ruling completely ignored the evidence he presented, and he was ‘disappointed’ as it ‘had nothing to do with Mr. Smollett’s innocence.’