In a 10-page ruling, Judge James Linn ordered that Jussie Smollett may continue using attorney Nenye Uche to represent him in the actor’s disorderly conduct case, despite a push from Special Prosecutor Dan Webb to have Uche removed.

Jussie Smollett returned to court Wednesday for the first time in a year for a five-hour hearing to determine whether one of the actor’s attorneys should be allowed to keep representing him in his case against accusations that he staged a racist and homophobic attack against himself.

A Cook County judge has scheduled a hearing this summer to determine if an attorney that actor Jussie Smollett has hired will be allowed to represent him following allegations of a possible conflict of interest involving that attorney and the two brothers Smollett allegedly hired to carry out a hoax attack.

Did a local attorney speak with the two brothers allegedly hired by Jussie Smollett to carry out a hoax hate crime against him two years ago? The answer could determine who represents the former “Empire” star at his criminal trial.

The judge handling Jussie Smollett’s case wants to keep a potential trial focused on the events that occurred the night the former “Empire” star allegedly filed a false police report, rather than the controversy surrounding his initial charges and their subsequent dismissal.

A little over a month after she won reelection, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx was officially sworn in. Following the ceremony, she reflected on the challenges of 2020 and looked ahead to the next four years.

A judge has denied a request to make public an investigatory report into the handling of the high-profile case by the Cook County State’s Attorney and her office, days after the special prosecutor released the findings of that investigation.

Special prosecutor Dan Webb did not find evidence to warrant criminal charges against State’s Attorney Kim Foxx or anyone in her office. But he did report the way actor Jussie Smollett’s charges were dismissed represented a “major failure.”

Two brothers who admitted helping actor Jussie Smollett stage a racist and homophobic attack in Chicago last year are again willing to help in the case after initially saying they were done cooperating with prosecutors, their attorney said Thursday.

A Cook County judge on Friday shot down actor Jussie Smollett’s attempt have the criminal charges against him dropped, telling the actor that the new charges against him do not violate his right against double jeopardy.

A federal judge has dismissed a countersuit filed by former “Empire” star Jussie Smollett, who claimed he was maliciously prosecuted for the alleged hoax attack Chicago police say he orchestrated on himself last year.

The former “Empire” star appeared at the Leighton Criminal Court Building on Monday, almost a year to the day after he first entered a similar plea in the initial case against him.

Embattled Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx is speaking out nearly a week after a special prosecutor reindicted actor Jussie Smollett.

Jussie Smollett faces new criminal charges. State’s Attorney Kim Foxx faces political fallout. Mayor Lori Lightfoot addresses rising crime numbers. And the NBA All-Star game descends on Chicago.

Judge Michael Toomin denied a petition from Sheila O’Brien, who argued that Kim Foxx’s hiring of attorneys from outside her office should not be allowed under state statutes.

Actor Jussie Smollett is facing a fresh set of charges for allegedly staging a hate crime on himself. Our politics team digs into that and more in our weekly roundtable.