California Senate and Assembly approve bill limiting use of rap lyrics as evidence in court
nme.comBillboard report, the bill would restrict the use of song lyrics as evidence, and be banned from being referenced in court unless the prosecution can prove a direct relevance between the lyrics and the particular case, and that the process will not “inject racial bias into the proceedings”.In a statement (via Pitchfork), the author of the bill, State Assembly member Reggie Jones-Sawyer, said: “Under current law rap artists can feel as though they are being read their Miranda Rights before they even begin to write music: ‘You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law’.“We should not stymie the creative expression of artists.
Unfortunately, racial biases play a role when talking about musical genres. Rap music lyrics share many similarities to that of other musical categories yet are singled out by the judicial system to characterise an artist.
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