When actor Jussie Smollett's 16 felony charges for lying to police were dropped, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office cited Smollett's community service as one of the factors in deciding not to prosecute.

That community service, according to The Daily Caller News Foundation, wasn't all that strenuous.

What did Smollett do? Smollett volunteered with Jesse Jackson Sr.'s Rainbow/PUSH Coalition for "several hours" over the course of two days, according to the organization.

During that time, he met with staff members and suggested ways they could better market their products to younger people. Smollett also spent time "encouraging" the production crew.

TMZ reported that Smollett served 18 hours with the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.

Other examples of community service Smollett performed included a visit with students at an African American arts school in Chicago and contribution to the taping of a concert that aired on PBS.

All good acts, but not acts that seem significant enough to have numerous felony charges completely wiped clean.

"You let him work off 'community service' with a couple days doing odd jobs at the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition," wrote Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass. "I hoped he sold a few Jesse Jackson action figures. But then Rainbow/PUSH said it had no idea his volunteer work had anything to do with the criminal case."

It's not over: Although Smollett won't face the charges, he may be facing some new legal issues from Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who was extremely upset with the way the case was dropped.



Emanuel is considering suing Smollett to get back some of the money the city spent on the investigation, according to Fox News. Smollett forfeited $10,000 in bail money, but Emanuel said that "doesn't even come close to what the city spent in resources."