{"id":58668,"date":"2023-11-07T18:04:46","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T23:04:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2023\/11\/07\/atlanta-da-defends-use-of-young-thugs-rap-lyrics-in-ysl-trial-by-referencing-unabomber-manifesto\/"},"modified":"2023-11-07T18:04:46","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T23:04:46","slug":"atlanta-da-defends-use-of-young-thugs-rap-lyrics-in-ysl-trial-by-referencing-unabomber-manifesto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2023\/11\/07\/atlanta-da-defends-use-of-young-thugs-rap-lyrics-in-ysl-trial-by-referencing-unabomber-manifesto\/","title":{"rendered":"Atlanta DA Defends Use of Young Thug\u2019s Rap Lyrics In YSL Trial By Referencing Unabomber\u00a0Manifesto"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\tWith Young Thug<\/a>\u2019s gang trial set to start later this month, Atlanta prosecutors are defending their plans to cite his rap lyrics as evidence against him \u2014 including by arguing that a manifesto written by the infamous Unabomber would not be inadmissible in court merely if it had been \u201cset to music.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThug\u2019s lawyers say his music should be off-limits at the upcoming trial, echoing widespread criticism that the tactic violates the First Amendment and unfairly sways juries. But with a judge set to decide that issue this week, prosecutors aren\u2019t exactly shying away from the controversial practice.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tFederal Bill Limiting Use of Rap Lyrics in Court Reintroduced\u00a0in\u00a0Congress\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\n\tIn a motion filed Friday (Nov. 3), the Fulton County District Attorney\u2019s office argued that the lyrics are clearly fair game because they allegedly show Thug (real name Jeffery Williams) and others admitting to being members of a criminal enterprise called YSL \u2014 the very crime they\u2019re accused of committing.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cGang lyric evidence pertaining to the predicate offenses, YSL, its rivals, expectations, and behaviors are all highly pertinent to the defendants\u2019 states of mind and intent in this case,\u201d the DA\u2019s office wrote. \u201cThe defendants associated with YSL for criminal purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn making those arguments, prosecutors also attacked the broader claim that rap music is often unfairly targeted in criminal cases. They accused Thug\u2019s lawyers of seeking an unreasonable \u201cgenre-based blanket exclusion\u201d against any evidence that was set \u201cto a beat\u201d \u2014 an outcome they said would lead to \u201can absurd result.\u201d To illustrate how \u201cridiculous\u201d that position is, prosecutors made a striking comparison.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cTaken to its logical outcome, the defense would seem to opine that if the Unabomber\u2019s manifesto had been set to music, it could not be used against him in any court,\u201d the DA\u2019s office wrote. \u201cAccording to the defense\u2019s argument, had the Turner Diaries been read with background music, it could not have been introduced against Timothy McVeigh.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe \u201cUnabomber\u201d refers to terrorist Ted Kaczynski, who killed three and injured dozens by mailing bombs to victims between 1978 and 1995. McVeigh was the white supremacist behind the Oklahoma City bombing in 1994, which left 168 people dead, including 19 children.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Young<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tMegan Thee Stallion, Post Malone & More Music Heavyweights Demand Limits on Using Rap Lyrics\u2026\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\n\tIn court documents, prosecutors also laid out exactly which Thug lyrics they plan to quote in court during the trial, including: \u201cF\u2013 the snitches, need to be in ditches\u201d; \u201cGave the lawyer close to 2 mil\u2019 he handle all the killings;\u201d and \u201cI was a capo in my hood way before a plaque or a mention.\u201d Prosecutors also listed many other lyrics, including by other YSL members, that they might reference to jurors.<\/p>\n

\n\tCivil liberties activists and defense attorneys have long criticized the use of rap lyrics to win criminal convictions. They argue that it unfairly targets constitutionally protected speech, treating hyperbolic verse as literal confessions; they also say it can unfairly sway juries by tapping into racial biases.<\/p>\n

\n\tLawmakers in California passed legislation last year restricting the use of rap lyrics and other creative expression as evidence in criminal cases, and a federal bill in Congress that would impose similar restrictions has been widely supported by the music industry. But absent such statutes, courts around the country have mostly upheld the right of prosecutors to cite rap lyrics, particularly in gang-related cases.<\/p>\n

\n\tThug and dozens of others were indicted in May 2022<\/a> over allegations that his \u201cYSL\u201d group was not really a record label called \u201cYoung Stoner Life\u201d but a violent Atlanta gang called \u201cYoung Slime Life.\u201d Prosecutors claim the group committed murders, carjackings, armed robberies, drug dealing and other crimes over the course of a decade.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter months of delays, a jury was finally seated<\/a> last week, clearing the way for the trial to kick off on Nov. 27 against Thug and five other remaining defendants. But before then, Judge Ural Glanville<\/strong> must decide on whether the jury can hear his lyrics as part of the prosecution\u2019s case.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a motion last year, Thug\u2019s attorney, Brian Steel<\/strong>, argued that using the lyrics as evidence was \u201cracist and discriminatory\u201d and would leave the jury \u201cpoisoned\u201d against his client. The use of that term was perhaps an allusion to a 2014 ruling by the New Jersey Supreme Court, which overturned a shooting conviction on the grounds that \u201cinflammatory rap verses\u201d had risked \u201cpoisoning the jury against the defendant.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe admission and use of these lyrics\/poetry\/artistry against Mr. Williams in his upcoming trial would be a Constitutional violation and an abuse of discretion,\u201d Steele wrote last year in his motion to exclude them from the case. \u201cMr. Williams has the absolute right, like all persons in America, to exercise lawful speech\/expression.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tA hearing over the admissibility of lyrics is set for Wednesday morning (Nov. 8).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Aller \u00e0 la source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With Young Thug\u2019s gang trial set to start later this month, Atlanta prosecutors are defending their plans to cite his rap lyrics as evidence against him \u2014 including by arguing that a manifesto written by the infamous Unabomber would not be inadmissible in court merely if it had been \u201cset to music.\u201d Thug\u2019s lawyers say […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-musique","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58668\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}