Killer Mike, Big Boi, T.I. File Brief to Supreme Court in First Amendment Case

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Killer Mike, Big Boi, and T.I. are a few of the artists who’ve signed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court regarding a high school student who was suspended for recording a rap song accusing two coaches of sexual misconduct, as The New York Times reports (via Rolling Stone). ”The government punished a young man for his art — and, more disturbing, for the musical genre by which he chose to express himself,” the brief reads.

In the brief, Mike wrote that “anyone who is learned in law is capable of supporting art and lyrics, whether you agree with them or not, and actual human behavior.” He cited Johnny Cash (“Folsom Prison Blues”) and Bob Marley (“I Shot The Sheriff”) as two artists who did not literally commit the crimes they sang about, and said that when rap lyrics are treated differently, poor young men are persecuted “based on their class and color.”

In 2011, Taylor Bell—then a high school senior—recorded the song accusing the coaches. One of the lines—”Looking down girls’ shirts, drool running down your mouth / Going to get a pistol down your mouth”—was the pretext for his suspension, as school officials accused him of “threatening two named educators with gun-related violence.” Now, Bell is suing to have the suspension removed from his record. (It’s worth noting that four female students signed affidavits accusing the coaches.)

A First Amendment challenge was rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals in August, as the New Orleans panel cited his “incredibly profane and vulgar” lyrics. The Supreme Court will decide in February whether to hear the case, the Times reports. 

Pharoahe Monch, Boots Riley, Jasiri X, Favianna Rodriguez, Toni Blackman, and several rap scholars have also signed the brief. 

Update (2:50 p.m.): Erik Nielson, a professor at the University of Richmond who signed the brief, has shared the text in full at his blog. Read it here.

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