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Rapper BG ordered to have all future songs approved by US government (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 5 months ago by TheReturnOfPEB@reddthat.com to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world

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[–] TheReturnOfPEB@reddthat.com 54 points 5 months ago (20 children)

But the artist known as BG must provide the government with copies of any songs he writes moving forward, ahead of their production or promotion – and, if they are deemed to be inconsistent with his goals of rehabilitation, prosecutors could move to toughen the terms governing his supervised release.

[–] Pronell@lemmy.world 77 points 5 months ago (19 children)

If he wants supervised early release from prison, this doesn't seem terribly out of line.

It's not like this is a part of his sentence, it's a part of him trying to reduce his sentence.

[–] rand_alpha19@moist.catsweat.com 8 points 5 months ago (3 children)

Not really, this is basically punishing him for the thoughtcrime of talking about using guns.

They also ordered him to do 400 hours of community service, I guess for the "trouble" of having a hearing. If his songs are too spicy, they can revoke his right to supervised release (AKA send him back to prison).

How many times have you heard of a situation where there's a man threatening to kill his girlfriend and the cops do nothing? Let the man write his lyrics, he was put in prison for illegal gun possession resulting from a traffic stop - he didn't fucking kill anyone.

[–] Pronell@lemmy.world 3 points 5 months ago (1 children)

If he wants special treatment to get out of his sentence early, he has to comply with that program.

We can't really be arguing about the validity of the charges here, this isn't a venue where that is entertained but one where the sentence is amended under certain restrictions.

[–] rand_alpha19@moist.catsweat.com 14 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I feel like the charges are important to note, especially given that the prosecutor wanted 25 years for this offence and that black Americans are handed very harsh sentences compared to white offenders.

It really does seem like black Americans and rappers are treated with a different set of standards and government data back me up on that.

https://www.ussc.gov/research/research-reports/mandatory-minimum-penalties-firearms-offenses-federal-system

Black offenders also generally received longer average sentences for firearms offenses carrying a mandatory minimum penalty than any other racial group. In fiscal year 2016, Black offenders convicted under section 924(c) received an average sentence of 165 months, compared to 140 months for White offenders and 130 months for Hispanic offenders. Only Other Race offenders received longer average sentences (170 months), but they accounted for only 2.2 percent of section 924(c) offenders.

[–] Pronell@lemmy.world 3 points 5 months ago

Totally agreed. Sentencing is insane and discretion was taken away from judges by congress long ago.

I'm more pointing out where he is within that system that arguing for reform. I'm not against said reform, but it's a totally different topic.

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