Travis Scott, Young Thug Petition Supreme Court Over Use of Rap Lyrics in Death Sentence

"The prosecutors argued Mr. Broadnax was likely to be dangerous in the future simply because he engaged in 'gangster rap.' Such an argument functionally operates as a categorical and straightforwardly unconstitutional content-based penalty on rap music as a form of expression."

"Taking rap music out of context subjects the entire genre to prosecution. This case exemplifies the racial prejudice that infects a criminal proceeding when the State uses a defendant's rap lyrics as evidence, particularly when those lyrics were irrelevant to arguments over guilt and introduced only during sentencing."

Travis Scott, Young Thug, Killer Mike, and other artists filed briefs with the Supreme Court opposing the execution of James Garfield Broadnax, a 19-year-old Black man convicted in 2009 of killing two people during a robbery in Texas. Prosecutors introduced 40 pages of Broadnax's handwritten rap lyrics as evidence during sentencing, which a primarily white jury reviewed twice before voting for death over life without parole. Scott's brief argues that using rap lyrics as evidence violates First Amendment protections and subjects the entire genre to unconstitutional prosecution. Killer Mike's brief contends the lyrics were irrelevant to guilt determination and only introduced during sentencing, exemplifying racial prejudice in criminal proceedings. The Supreme Court must clarify constitutional limits on using artistic expression as evidence of criminal propensity.

Read at Pitchfork