Jack Lerner

Professor at @UCILaw, director of @UCIrvineIPAT Clinic. Find me in the Blue Sky or at Not on this site anymore.

[UC Irvine @UCIrvine]

UC Irvine law and criminology experts release second edition of Rap on Trial: A Legal Guide. The comprehensive manual includes legislative updates on use of rap lyrics and videos in criminal prosecutions. @Social_Ecology @UCILaw @cekubrin @jacklerner

https://t.co/2f1dI5WIQu

[Jack Lerner @jacklerner]

@laripley @blackdownLDN @AdamWagner1 @ciaranthapar I'd start with @EMaryQ

[Jack Lerner @jacklerner]

Take a few minutes to read this wonderful profile of the Press Freedom Project at @UCIrvineIPAT, led by my incredible @UCILaw colleague @SusanESeager. The Project's victories over the last three years—and their impact!—are simply astonishing. Go Susan!

[UC Irvine News @UCIrvineNews]

#UCIrvine Law’s Press Freedom Project plays a vital role in keeping independent investigative reporting alive – and journalists out of jail – in Southern California. @UCILaw https://t.co/fVPPUFTv6B

[Jack Lerner @jacklerner]

A huge honor to be in the company of so many brilliant people speaking out on this issue. The ubiquitous but once little-known practice of #RapOnTrial must end. #ProtectBlackArt

[Dorothy Roberts @DorothyERoberts]

Honored to join so many artists & scholars in today’s @nytimes ad demanding that prosecutors stop using creative expression against Black artists. #ProtectBlackArt

[Jack Lerner @jacklerner]

Another huge #RapOnTrial development! The defendant challenged his conviction, arguing that the use of rap lyrics and slang at trial introduced racial bias and violated the California Racial Justice Act. In a 70-page opinion, the court agreed. Massive.

https://t.co/3WNJsQDhzh

[Jack Lerner @jacklerner]

Ugh. A long way TOWARDS…

[Jack Lerner @jacklerner]

Governor @GavinNewsom has signed AB 2799, the Decriminalizing Creative Expression Act! This is the nation's first legislation addressing #RapOnTrial. It will go a long way from preventing prosecutors from using rap lyrics to inject racial bias into criminal trials. TY governor!

[Governor Gavin Newsom @CAgovernor]

CA is the 1st state to ensure creative content - like lyrics & music videos - can't be used against artists in court without judicial review.

Thanks, @JonesSawyerAD59 for your work & @yg @KillerMike @tydollasign @Tyga @MeekMill @E40 @TooShort for your dedication to the cause.

[Jack Lerner @jacklerner]

And of course @RepHankJohnson and @RepBowman have recognized the importance of this issue on the federal level and introduced the Restoring Artistic Protection Act (HR 8531) in Congress. Thank you gentlemen!

[Jack Lerner @jacklerner]

The California legislature has passed the nation's first #RapOnTrial legislation—unanimously!—and AB 2799 is now on @CAgovernor's desk. Learn more about the Decriminalizing Creative Expression Act with this explainer, and join me in asking @GavinNewsom to sign this bill!

[Jack Lerner @jacklerner]

*effect not affect

[Jack Lerner @jacklerner]

#RapOnTrial is when prosecutors use rap lyrics unfairly and misleadingly to lock up young men of color. But @cekubrin and I also found that #rapontrial is changing rap itself: rappers know they are being targeted and it affects their work. Read on... 1/

https://t.co/LizxC7HRYM

[Jack Lerner @jacklerner]

Today we published the Rap on Trial Legal Guide, a comprehensive resource for attorneys dealing with rap lyrics introduced in criminal proceedings. Prosecutors frequently use #rapontrial to get around rules that prohibit character evidence. 1/
https://t.co/thELUKaMEG

[Jack Lerner @jacklerner]

So yes, #RapOnTrial is a problem not only in how it's used to put away young men of color but in its affect on rap itself. @cekubrin & I wrote the Rap on Trial Legal Guide cause these #chillingeffects are harmful & we want to help people fight back. /fin
https://t.co/uYlcUa6X3i