Thursday, March 28, 2024

Elonis v. US Has Supreme Court Talking Violence in Rap Lyrics

anthony elonis,*Elonis v. United States is the case about a man named Anthony Elonis who posted threatening statuses on Facebook about his estranged wife.

“I’m not going to rest until your body is a mess, soaked in blood and dying from all the little cuts,” and,”There’s one way to love you but a thousands ways to kill you.”

Elonis claimed he is an aspiring rapper. His case started a new conversation about violence in rap lyrics and free speech to the Supreme Court.

He was charged with “transmitting interstate threats to injure the person of another” and sentenced to four years in prison after his estranged wife reported the controversial and disturbing messages to the police.

Chief Justice John Roberts quoted Eminem at the Monday hearing — stating that he doesn’t see the difference between Elonis and professional-level rappers.

He quoted, “dada make a nice bed for mommy at the bottom of the lake.” He then asked Deputy Solicitor General Michael Dreeben if Eminem could be prosecuted for his lyrics.

“Eminem said it at a concert where people are going to be entertained,” Dreeben rebutted. “This is a critical part of the context. It wasn’t as if he stated it to her in private or on a Facebook page after having received a protection from abuse order.”

Conservative Justice Samuel Alito agreed with Dreeben. He said allowing online threats like Elonis’s is a slippery slope.

“This sounds like a roadmap for threatening a spouse and getting away with it,” Alito said, according to National Journal. “You put it in rhyme, and you put some stuff about the Internet on it, and you say, ‘I’m an aspiring rap artist.’ And so then, you are free from prosecution.”

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