California Gov. Gavin Newsom signs bill limiting the use of rap lyrics as evidence in criminal proceedings

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law on Friday that limits the use of rap lyrics in criminal court cases in the state.

The law requires “a court, in a criminal proceeding where a party seeks to admit as evidence a form of creative expression, to consider specified factors when balancing the probative value of that evidence against the substantial danger of undue prejudice.”

The new law underscores a larger national conversation around prohibiting the use of rap lyrics as evidence in criminal proceedings, a tactic critics have called a racist double standard and an infringement on First Amendment rights.