State lawmakers in New York are hoping to pass legislation limiting prosecutors from using lyrics as criminal evidence against artists – the first of its kind nationally.
His return to rapping was especially notable since it was the lyrics to his own rap songs that prosecutors used to help put him away.
David LaBahn, who heads the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, which represents the nation's elected and deputy or assistant prosecutors and city attorneys, said much of existing criminal procedure already covers such evidence that could be prejudicial. But he acknowledged that such determinations are also rather subjective.
Erik Nielson, a University of Richmond professor and expert witness on the subject who co-authored the book"Rap on Trial: Race, Lyrics, and Guilt in America," has found that in at least 500 cases from roughly 1990 through 2017 a defendant's rap lyrics or videos had been introduced as evidence of guilt in an underlying crime, especially when cases are weak.
"There's a sense among prosecutors and judges, and I'd argue some of the public that hip hop is connected to criminality and isn’t a valid of expression, and there could be nothing further from the truth," Hoylman said. "We have a 'real factor' in hip hop, and I think most people should know at least 90 plus percent of what these guys are rapping about is fiction or overly exaggerated," Phipps said."I think we have to be very careful when we take hip hop songs at face value, like this is this person’s life and this is what they're living...Not everybody's neighborhood is the hardest neighborhood in the world.
For trials, Black jurors are routinely limited and excluded from criminal juries, so jury pools tend to be older and whiter, said John Hamasaki, a criminal defense attorney."You're using both the lyrics as well as imagery that I think is intended to scare the hell out of old white jurors.", which also featured his song lyrics. The prosecutor in that case did not respond to a request for comment.
Spiro, of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, noted that the New York Police Department has a"hip hop unit" where detectives watch YouTube videos rather than using that time to engage with them on the streets.When asked whether the department had a death metal, punk, rock or country music unit, the NYPD's Deputy Commissioner John Miller did not respond to the question.
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