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Posted by Dave
Rap News Network
8/26/2005 1:57:17 PM
A federal court Wednesday ordered a Pennsylvania school district to rescind the expulsion of a 14-year-old who wrote violent rap lyrics. The judge ruled that school-district attorneys failed to demonstrate that the child’s writings represented a threat. The student is still under criminal investigation over the lyrics.
Earlier this month, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit charging that officials with the Riverside Beaver School District ran afoul of the First Amendment in expelling Anthony Latour from school over his writings, which were posted to the Internet. Latour maintained that he penned the violent words at home and that they represent a music style known as battle rap.
Numerous hip-hop websites have sections devoted to battle rap, a form replete with aggressive and violent lyrics. A hip-hop culture historian was called as a witness to testify to that effect.
In court papers, the ACLU argued that allowing the expulsion to stand would cause "much of rap music" to "effectively become illegal in the district."
Wednesday’s preliminary injunction ruling found that the lyrics did not represent "true threats."
Latour is to appear in Juvenile Court next week to answer to charges of harassment and making terrorist-like threats, according to the Post-Gazette. The Associated Press reported yesterday that school district officials are planning on complying with the court order.
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