\n\tSome of rap music\u2019s biggest names have come out in support of a Black man, whose rap lyrics were cited during his sentencing in Texas. He is on death row.<\/p>\n
\n\tIn 2009, a nearly all-white jury convicted James Garfield Broadnax of killing two men during a robbery the previous year near Garland, Texas. Prosecutors had eliminated all prospective jurors who were Black. After Broadnax was convicted, prosecutors introduced his lyrics when a determination was being made on whether he should be put to death. During deliberations, the jury asked to review 40 pages of Broadnax\u2019s handwritten lyrics two times, according to The New York Times<\/a>. Broadnax\u2019s lawyers last month asked the Supreme Court (SCOTUS<\/a>) to halt his execution, which is set for next month, and to review his case.<\/p>\n \n\tOne \u201camici curae\u201d brief<\/a> was filed on behalf of Killer Mike<\/a>, T.I., Young Thug, Fat Joe, N.O.R.E., and other artists, music scholars, and arts organizations in support of Broadnax. Travis Scott<\/a>\u2018s legal team filed its own amicus brief<\/a> with the Supreme Court the same day. Both argued that the use of rap lyrics in the trial was unconstitutional.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThe prosecutors argued Mr. Broadnax was likely to be dangerous in the future simply because he engaged in \u2018gangster rap,’\u201d read Scott\u2019s brief. \u201cSuch an argument functionally operates as a categorical and straightforwardly unconstitutional content-based penalty on rap music as a form of expression.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tMoreover, the filing argues, \u201cAt a certain level of abstraction, the reality is even more problematic: taking rap music out of context subjects the entire genre to prosecution.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tScott\u2019s brief also argues that rap music, which is \u201cprimarily created by and historically associated with minority artists,\u201d is protected by the First Amendment, that criminalizing rap music is an infringement on those rights, and that SCOTUS should \u201cclarify the constitutional limits\u201d of using \u201cprotected artistic expression as evidence of criminal propensity.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIn a statement to Rolling Stone, Ellyde R. Thompson, an attorney representing Scott, said that the case \u201cimplicates fundamental constitutional rights.\u201d Thompson added,\u00a0\u201cA death sentence should never be based in any part on constitutionally protected artistic expression\u201d<\/p>\n \t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n \n\tThe brief filed by Killer Mike and others argued that rap lyrics are fiction, not autobiography. \u201cExaggerated tales of violence, sex, and criminal behavior sell to a broad swath of Americans \u2014 and any would-be gangsta rapper must learn and practice these conventions of the form,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n \n\tThe filing argued that Broadnax\u2019s lyrics were irrelevant to his case since they weren\u2019t used during the guilt or innocence phase of arguments. The use of the lyrics, it claimed, were used to \u201cstoke racial and anti-rap bias,\u201d and the way they were wielded was meant to make him seem dangerous. \u201cThis case exemplifies the racial prejudice that infects a criminal proceeding when the State uses a defendant\u2019s rap lyrics to capitalize on anti-rap bias, the misinterpretation of rap lyrics, and anti-Black bias triggered by rap music,\u201d the filing stated.<\/p>\n \n\tChad Baruch, an attorney representing counsel for Killer Mike and Professor Erik Nielson, who is also named in the brief and teaches at the University of Richmond, said, \u201cThis case presents an ideal opportunity for the Supreme Court \u2013 once and for all \u2013 to plunge a much-needed dagger through the heart of the criminalization of rap as an art form.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tIn another statement, Lucius T. Outlaw III, who also serves as counsel on the brief, said that the state of Texas \u201cmisused Mr. Broadnax\u2019s rap artistic expression to secure a death sentence by appealing to racial stereotypes and fears of the young black \u2018super predator.’\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tBoth briefs would like SCOTUS to \u201cgrant the Petition for a Writ of Certiorari,\u201d which means review a lower court\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n \t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n \n\tLawyers for Texas argued that Broadnax\u2019s attorneys had waited too long to raise objections over his lyrics. They claimed to have used his lyrics\u00a0 in only a small portion of their arguments.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cNo matter how beautiful it sounds, or how horrific it may sound, it\u2019s still just art,\u201d Killer Mike told the Times. \u201cIt\u2019s an interpretation of the human spirit. It is not an admission of guilt.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some of rap music\u2019s biggest names have come out in support of a Black man, whose rap lyrics…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":338021,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[93,61,60,109149,278,155081,36052],"class_list":{"0":"post-338020","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-killer-mike","12":"tag-music","13":"tag-scotus","14":"tag-travis-scott"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338020\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}