ATLANTA — A House subcommittee tabled a bill Wednesday that would curb the use of music lyrics in criminal prosecutions.
This was a rare bill sponsored by a Democrat that got some attention from Republican leaders. The bill’s backers think the GOP was drawn to it at least in part because it had the potential to undermine a high-profile prosecution underway by the Fulton County DA.
Movies have routinely depicted fictional acts of violence – and often get praised for their artistic merit. Same for hip-hop, though its lyrics also sometimes describe violence.
In Fulton County’s YSL trial, prosecutors are using the lyrics of one of the defendants, Jeffery Williams, the rapper known as Young Thug, as evidence that he was the leader of a criminal gang. They’ve created slides showing some of the lyrics, tying them into alleged criminal intent or criminal admissions.
State Rep. Eric Bell (D-Jonesboro) finds that a bit horrifying. "Art is a commodity," Bell said. "They're only doing what their job tells them to do."
Bell said rappers and other artists are merely trying to reach an audience. Prosecuting a rapper for his lyrics would be like prosecuting a filmmaker for using disturbing images in a fictional movie, he added.
Bell's bill would create legal hurdles for prosecutors who want to use artistic content to advance prosecution against the artist.
"This cannot simply be added as character evidence. We need to understand there’s a fact that’s in dispute that this creative work would speak to directly," entertainment attorney Shay Lawson told a House judiciary subcommittee on Wednesday.
But Republicans on the panel questioned whether the bill went too far and was inconsistent with other laws on the books. They noted the judge in the YSL trial held a separate hearing using much the same criteria in the bill before deciding to admit Young Thug’s lyrics into evidence.
The subcommittee voted to table the rap lyrics bill-- with Crossover Day on Thursday.