Very happy that CBS This Morning did a segment today featuring our work on the use of rap lyrics as evidence.  For the last few months, media focus has been on a NJ Supreme Court case (State v. Vonte Skinner) involving the admissibility of rap lyrics, but our hope is that, moving forward, we can draw attention to the hundreds of other cases that have essentially criminalized rap music.  That’s certainly our goal as we push ahead with our scholarship.

In our latest effort to draw attention to the use of rap lyrics as evidence in court, Charis Kubrin and I published this op-ed in the LA Times.  Here we provide a national context but focus on the important role California has had in opening the door for the prosecution of rap.  Our research is revealing jaw-dropping numbers of cases in the Golden State, and in this piece we begin to explain why.

I get calls from defense attorneys on a regular basis with rapper-clients whose music is being used against them in court.  Always a good bet that attorney is calling from California…

Also, a great piece on the use of rap lyrics just went up at The Root.  It’s written by Prof. Emmett Price, whose broad musical knowledge makes his perspective especially valuable in these discussions.