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Jussie Smollett’s Case File Unsealed by Judge

Prosecutors dropped all 16 counts against the ‘Empire’ star in March, but several media outlets argued the documents should be made public for the sake of transparency.

A judge in Chicago has unsealed Empire actor Jussie Smollett’s court records related to the 16 charges dropped against him in March, when prosecutors decided not to proceed with charges against him for allegedly staging a racist and homophobic assault against himself. Several media outlets had petitioned the court to publicly release the documents from the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, which would ostensibly shed light on why prosecutors dropped the charges—a decision for which the office was widely criticized. The State’s Attorney’s Office said in a statement at the time that the decision was made because of Smollett’s “previous community service” and over his “agreement to forfeit his bond to the City of Chicago.”