The Chapman Law Review is proud to publish Professor Charis E. Kubrin’s article: Rap Ryhme, Prison Time: How Prosecutors Use Rap Evidence in Gang Cases. Below, you will find an excerpt from the article:

Forthcoming: Rap Rhyme, Prison Time: How Prosecutors Use Rap Evidence in Gang Cases

By Charis E. Kubrin

Introduction

The phrase “rap on trial” signifies a tactic used by prosecutors to introduce a defendant’s rap lyrics and videos as evidence of criminality at trial. Rather than treat rap as a form of artistic expression, prosecutors claim the lyrics are either autobiographical confessions of illegal behavior or evidence of motive or intent with respect to an alleged crime. Beyond First Amendment concerns, putting rap on trial raises the specter of discrimination in the courtroom, as experimental research finds that individuals hold negative stereotypes about rap music and rap artists, most of whom are young men of color. Notably, this practice occurs almost exclusively for defendant-authored rap lyrics and videos, even as other music genres contain references to violence or crime. In rap on trial cases, prosecutors frequently introduce lyrics and videos as evidence of gang association, membership, or participation to help secure convictions and gang enhancements—a practice we call gang affiliation through rap misrepresentation. For the accused, the consequences of this practice can be severe: Gang enhancements can substantially increase the length of sentences, including the imposition of indeterminate life sentences or, in first degree murder cases, life without the possibility of parole and even the death penalty. In this Article, we call for greater nuance and careful treatment of rap-related evidence in the courtroom, which includes recognizing rap’s history, conventions, and practices generally, and acknowledging rap’s complicated and complex intersection with gangs specifically. Greater nuance and more careful treatment will enable courtroom members, including judges and jurors, to make better informed evaluations regarding whether rap evidence, despite being prejudicial, is sufficiently probative and if so, what relevance it may have to the case. We preface this argument with a review of punitive policies and practices associated with gangs in the criminal justice system, and with a discussion of how prosecutors use rap evidence in actual gangrelated rap on trial cases. We conclude with recommendations. While gang affiliation through rap misrepresentation is prevalent throughout the United States, its epicenter is California—our focus in this Article.