An Attack On Creative Freedom: Maryland Passes New Law to Keep Rap Lyrics Out of Criminal Cases

Maryland passed legislation Thursday (April 9) to restrict when prosecutors can cite rap lyrics as criminal evidence against the artists who wrote them, becoming the third state to rein in the controversial practice.

The Protecting Artists’ Creative Expression (PACE) Act would allow prosecutors to use rap lyrics and other “creative expression” only after a judge decides that it meets certain strict requirements — including that it was intended as a literal statement about the facts of the case.

The law, which is expected to be signed by Gov. Wes Moore, is part of a broader effort to limit the tactic, which critics say stifles free speech and can sway juries by playing to racial bias. Young Thug and Lil Durk have both recently faced indictments that quoted their lyrics.

“The passage of the PACE Act in Maryland marks an important victory for music creators,” said Harvey Mason Jr., CEO of the Recording Academy, in a statement Friday (April 10). “Silencing any genre or form of artistic expression is an attack on creative freedom.”

Prosecutors have used rap lyrics for decades to win convictions against the people who wrote them. Critics have long complained about it, arguing it denies defendants — innocent or guilty — their right to a fair trial by treating rap music as a literal confession rather than art.

But courts around the country have largely upheld the practice, leading to the push for legislative change. In late 2020, the Maryland Supreme Court upheld a murder conviction against Lawrence Montague, at least partially based on a “jailhouse rap” in which prosecutors say he admitted to the crime.

In technical terms, the law would not ban the use of lyrics in criminal cases. Instead, it would require prosecutors to show by a “preponderance of evidence” that the lyrics are worthwhile evidence. Before lyrics will be admitted, judges will be required to rule that the artist intended them as literal statements; that they refer to the facts of the case; and that they are relevant to a disputed fact in the case.

That echoes a similar law enacted in California in 2022, which created a so-called rebuttable presumption against the use of lyrics; Louisiana has also passed restrictions on creative expression as evidence. New York has come close, and a federal bill has been introduced several times in Congress.

Kevin Liles, a music industry veteran and the chairman of the Free Our Art group that pushed for the Maryland legislation, said in a statement Friday that he hoped other states would soon tackle what he called the “growing weaponization of creative expression in courtrooms across America.”

“As a kid growing up in Baltimore, music found me and hip-hop saved my life,” Liles said. “When this bill is signed, we’re turning our attention to New York State next, and we hope to have two bills passed this year.”