Maryland Passes PACE Act Protecting Rap Lyrics From Courtroom Weaponization

Maryland just passed a law that stops prosecutors from using rap lyrics against artists in court, protecting creative expression with a four-pronged test judges must follow.

Maryland State Delegate Marlon Amprey just made sure prosecutors can’t weaponize your art against you in court anymore if you live in Maryland.

The state’s legislature passed the Protecting Artists’ Creative Expression Act, and it’s about to change everything for rappers facing trial.

The bill heads to Governor Wes Moore’s desk for signature on May 12, with enforcement starting October 1, 2026. For over four years, State Delegate Amprey pushed this legislation through a bipartisan coalition, finally getting it done.

“The reality is, if that song isn’t having anything to do with the trial, then it shouldn’t be used in court,” Amprey said.

The PACE Act doesn’t ban lyrics from evidence entirely. Instead, it creates a four-pronged test that judges must apply before allowing creative expression into the courtroom.

That test ensures the evidence is fair, reasonable, and actually relevant to the case at hand. The timing couldn’t be more critical. Look at what happened to James Broadnax in Texas.

Prosecutors used his handwritten rap lyrics to help send him to death row, treating his artistic expression like a confession. Convictions have already been vacated in Georgia, Texas, Tennessee, and New York over the past three years because of how lyrics were misused as evidence.

Young Thug’s Georgia RICO case showed the nation how dangerous this practice had become.

Maryland’s move signals that states are finally recognizing the pattern.

Kevin Liles, the Baltimore native leading Free Our Art, celebrated the victory while already looking ahead.

“We did this the right way with a bipartisan coalition of allies and backing by diverse arts groups,” Liles said. He’s already targeting New York next and hopes to get two bills passed this year.

The federal Restoring Artistic Protection Act, introduced in Congress by Representatives Hank Johnson and Sydney Kamlager-Dove, aims to do nationally what Maryland just accomplished locally.

Maryland’s passage creates momentum for that federal bill, showing Congress that states are ready to protect artists’ First Amendment rights.

BMAC, The Recording Academy and PEN America have both backed the federal legislation, recognizing that creative expression shouldn’t become a prosecution tool.

Maryland’s PACE Act represents the first real legislative response on the East Coast, and it’s setting the standard for how courts should handle art in criminal proceedings.

Governor Moore’s signature will make Maryland the safest state on the East Coast for artists to create without fear their words become evidence against them.

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