Hip-hop artists, scholars ask Supreme Court to bar lyrics from death penalty cases

A coalition of Grammy-winning artists, entertainers and professors — including Killer Mike, Young Thug, T.I., actor Anthony Anderson and music executive Kevin Liles — has filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reject the use of rap lyrics as evidence in capital sentencing proceedings, according to a press release from the law firm leading the effort.

The brief, backed by 30 artists and scholars and six arts organizations, centers on the Dallas County capital case of James Broadnax, who is scheduled to be executed April 30. According to the filing, prosecutors improperly used Broadnax’s rap lyrics during the punishment phase of his trial to argue the lyrics reflected a “master plan” for violent behavior and demonstrated he posed a future danger to society — a finding Texas juries must make before imposing a death sentence.

Lead counsel Chad Baruch of Dallas-based Johnston Tobey Baruch argued that treating rap lyrics as literal evidence of future violence invites jurors to decide death-penalty cases based on fear and stereotypes rather than the law. The brief also argues that the absence of the lyrics from the guilt/innocence phase of the trial amounts to an implicit acknowledgment by the state that the material lacked legal relevance to the underlying charges.

The filing further contends that allowing such use of artistic expression risks enabling prosecutors to exploit racial bias and misunderstandings of rap music in capital cases, and that doing so circumvents constitutional protections, according to the brief.