{"id":3446,"date":"2026-03-09T22:48:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T22:48:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/2026\/03\/texas-attorney-along-with-killer-mike-young-thug-music-executive-kevin-liles-more-challenge-use-of-rap-lyrics-in-dallas-death-penalty-sentencing\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T22:48:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T22:48:15","slug":"texas-attorney-along-with-killer-mike-young-thug-music-executive-kevin-liles-more-challenge-use-of-rap-lyrics-in-dallas-death-penalty-sentencing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/2026\/03\/texas-attorney-along-with-killer-mike-young-thug-music-executive-kevin-liles-more-challenge-use-of-rap-lyrics-in-dallas-death-penalty-sentencing\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Attorney Along With Killer Mike, Young Thug, T.I. & More Challenge Use of Rap Lyrics in Dallas Death Penalty Sentencing."},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/p>\n

A coalition of artists, entertainers, music industry leaders and professors, including Grammy Award-winning rapper Killer Mike, Young Thug, T.I., Blackish star Anthony Anderson, and music executive Kevin Liles, have filed an amicus brief challenging the use of rap lyrics during the punishment phase of a Dallas County capital trial, arguing that prosecutors improperly relied on artistic expression to support a death sentence.<\/span><\/p>\n

In total, the brief is supported by 30 artists and scholars, and six arts organizations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Texas appellate attorney Chad Baruch of Johnston Tobey Baruch is lead counsel on the brief, with co-counsel (and amici) Professor Lucius T. Outlaw III of the Criminal Justice Clinic at Howard University School of Law. Professor Erik Nielson, one of America\u2019s leading authorities on hip-hop culture, took the lead in the effort.<\/span><\/p>\n

The brief urges the U.S. Supreme Court to reject the use of rap lyrics as evidence that a defendant poses a continuing threat to society, a determination Texas juries must make before imposing the death penalty. The filing contends that prosecutors used defendant James Broadnax\u2019s artistic expression to stoke racial and anti-rap bias with the jury.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRap lyrics are creative expression,\u201d said Mr. Baruch. \u201cWhen prosecutors treat them as literal evidence of future violence, they invite jurors to decide a death-penalty case based on fear and stereotypes instead of the law.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The brief also argues that the absence of Mr. Broadnax\u2019s lyrics from the guilt\/innocence phase of the trial is, in effect, an admission by the state of its lack of relevance to the case. Mr. Broadnax is scheduled to be executed April 30.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the filing, prosecutors relied on Broadnax\u2019s artistic expression to argue that his lyrics reflected a \u201cmaster plan\u201d for violent behavior and demonstrated that he posed a future danger.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the brief, allowing rap lyrics to be used in this way risks enabling prosecutors to capitalize on racial bias and misinterpretations of rap music in capital sentencing proceedings. The filing argues that such use of artistic expression represents a circumvention of constitutional protections and should not be permitted to stand.<\/span><\/p>\n

The filing represents the latest development in a growing national debate over the courtroom use of rap lyrics. In 2015, Mr. Baruch authored a widely discussed amicus brief on the issue on behalf of a coalition of artists and scholars in another case. That earlier filing, often described as the \u201cHip-Hop Brief,\u201d brought together what The New York Times described as \u201ca glittering array of hip-hop stars.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

About Johnston Tobey Baruch<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Johnston Tobey Baruch is a dynamic law practice based in Dallas. Its trial and appellate attorneys have a broad range of litigation, arbitration and appellate experience. They are pioneers in the handling of legal and accounting malpractice, investment fraud and business disputes. They also have an enviable track record with insurance bad faith matters, commercial litigation and fiduciary litigation, and civil, family and criminal appeals for many prominent Texas companies and individuals.<\/span><\/p>\n

The post Texas Attorney Along With Killer Mike, Young Thug, T.I. & More Challenge Use of Rap Lyrics in Dallas Death Penalty Sentencing.<\/a> first appeared on Rap Industry: New Hip Hop, Rap Videos, Music, News, & more.<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A coalition of artists, entertainers, music industry leaders and professors, including Grammy Award-winning rapper Killer Mike, Young Thug, T.I., Blackish…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14044,"featured_media":3629,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6],"tags":[10,9],"class_list":["post-3446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-rss","tag-culture","tag-hip-hop"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14044"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3446"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3446\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westcoastaftershock.com\/wca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}