B.G.‘s lawyers have fought back against a court order demanding that the rapper’s lyrics be pre-approved by a probation officer, claiming that the order is a violation of the First Amendment.
The Guardian obtained a legal filing made on Wednesday (May 22), in which the rapper’s attorneys made clear that submitting his lyrics prior to making them go live on wax violates his rights.
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“As to the Government’s request for Mr. Dorsey [referring to the rapper’s real name, Christopher Dorsey] to provide U.S. Probation (and the government) with lyrics ‘for any song that he may write, in whole or in part, while on supervised release,’ it is respectfully submitted that this request is overly broad and violates the First Amendment and due process,” his attorneys wrote.
“It is respectfully submitted that requiring Mr. Dorsey to submit his mental impressions and lyrics for any song that he may write, whole or in part, would constitute a prior restraint. It is respectfully submitted that Mr. Dorsey should be permitted to write and express his own thoughts without fear that he needs to provide all lyrics to U.S. Probation and the Government.”
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The filing continues: “Besides Mr. Dorsey, are there any other music artists on supervised release in this District or throughout the United States being required to submit all of their song lyrics to U.S. Probation and the Government? Significantly, Mr. Dorsey’s song lyrics have not resulted in any criminal activity. It is respectfully submitted that blaming someone’s music for violence is like blaming Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone for violent crimes because of their movies.
“Furthermore, evaluating lyrics for alleged supervised release violations would result in arbitrary, vague and subjective enforcement. Accordingly, the proposed condition as it relates to the submission of future lyrics/mental impressions should not be adopted by this Honorable Court.”
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That said, the ruling also makes clear that B.G. will not have to go to prison for his alleged probation violation because he has become “an asset to the community.”
B.G. previously landed in hot water for performing a concert with Boosie Badazz without prior approval and collaborating with Gucci Mane. Both rappers are convicted felons, and association with them is a violation of the terms of B.G.’s release.
According to court documents previously viewed by HipHopDX, authorities have petitioned to modify the New Orleans native’s release conditions.
“Mr. Dorsey appears to be travelling down the same road that landed him in prison in the first place,” the motion reads. “While the Government commends him for his entrepreneurial abilities to get back into the music industry, it has significant concerns as to how this will affect his rehabilitation as he re-enters society, which is the main reason for the period of supervised release.
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“It appears that Mr. Dorsey is getting back into the same lifestyle that led to his long period of incarceration, as evidenced by his recently released song/video ‘Same Gangsta’ and several others that are similar in nature.”
It adds: “As this Court is aware, Mr. Dorsey is a talented rap artist and has been since the age of thirteen. Unfortunately, Mr. Dorsey has used his talents to glorify the violent, lawless, ‘gangsta’ lifestyle and those, including some of his associates, who participate in it.”
