Research showed that over three years there were 68 cases in which rap lyrics were used as evidence against 252 defendants.
A new study by researchers at the University of Manchester has revealed a surprising trend in England and Wales: rap and drill music is being used as prosecution evidence in serious criminal cases. The analysis identified 68 cases spanning three years in which lyrics from these genres were presented as evidence against 252 suspects, including those charged with gang-related murder.
According to a press release from the University of Manchester, rap lyrics and videos are regularly used as prosecution evidence in youth violence criminal cases in England and Wales. The material selected by the state generally has violent themes, often from the popular “drill” rap music genre, and is composed by one or more of the defendants or by one of their friends. This use is highly controversial due to concerns that rap is an unreliable form of evidence and that its use is unfairly harmful.
Despite mounting criticism, there is very little regulation or oversight of how rap is used as criminal evidence, and it continues to be used to build “gang-related” prosecutions under highly controversial secondary liability laws. In turn, “gang” labels, which have even been portrayed as inaccurate and racist by some law enforcement officials, are “proven” by rap music, often to build large “Joint Enterprise” lawsuits in which more than one person is prosecuted for a single crime. crime.
Eithne Quinn, Erica Kane and Will Pritchard say their investigation has uncovered deeply worrying processes 'aggravating injustice' which risks innocent people being convicted of the most serious crimes.
“Our findings are deeply troubling and support the view that collecting rap evidence in criminal cases encourages police and prosecutors to further increase the number of people charged as secondary liability,” said Professor Eithne Quinn.
