NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Two New York Democratic state senators introduced legislation Wednesday that would prevent song lyrics from being used as evidence in criminal trials.
Manhattan Sen. Brad Hoylman and Bronx Sen. Jamaal Bailey said their "Rap Music on Trial" will protect artists' and content creators' First Amendment rights by prohibiting prosecutors from using their art against them.
"The right to free speech is enshrined in our federal and state constitutions because it is through this right that we can preserve all of our other fundamental rights," Bailey said in a statement. "The admission of art as criminal evidence only serves to erode this fundamental right, and the use of rap and hip-hop lyrics in particular is emblematic of the systemic racism that permeates our criminal justice system."
Citing the practice used during the 2019 criminal trial against rapper Tekashi69, or Daniel Hernandez, a New York District Court allowed his lyrics to be introduced in court, compelling him to become a government witness to avoid a harsher sentence.
As recently as January, a Maryland Appeals Court allowed prosecutors to submit rap music recorded by Lawrence Montague as evidence against him in a trial despite a judge arguing "rap lyrics had little to no probative value."
Hoylman condemned this recent legal practices, calling it an "egregious bias" toward rap music.
"Art is creative expression, not a blueprint of criminal plans. Yet we’ve seen prosecutors in New York and across the country try to use rap music lyrics as evidence in criminal cases, a practice upheld this year by a Maryland court," Holyman said.