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In October 2017, Lawrence Montague, a Maryland man incarcerated while awaiting trial for murder and gun-related charges, rapped a verse containing the following lyrics over a jail phone to a friend:
“I’ll be playin’ the block bitch
And if you ever play with me
I’ll give you a dream, a couple shots snitch
It’s like hockey pucks the way I dish out this
It’s a .40 when that bitch goin’ hit up shit”
According to court records, Montague’s friend warned him about some of the lyrics, to which Montague replied, “I’m gucci. It’s a rap. Fuck can they do for about a rap?” Weeks later, the state used the rap to get him convicted of second-degree murder, first-degree assault, use of a firearm in a crime of violence, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and carrying a handgun on the person. He was sentenced to 50 years 30 years for the murder in addition to 20 years for use of a firearm (the other charges were “merged,” a
The Baton Rouge Police must give back what isn’t rightfully theirs. Local media outlets reported that a judge in the Louisiana capital ordered authorities in that city to return more than $47,000 in cash and several jewelry pieces they took from rapper
YoungBoy Never Broke Again after he was arrested during a video shoot earlier this year.
The 21-year-old’s attorney, James Manasseh, argued that the taking of his client’s money was unconstitutional. The Advocate reported, “One of [YoungBoy] ‘s attorneys had argued in a court filing that the seizure and detention of the cash were ‘illegal and unconstitutional’ because the state did not have sufficient evidence to support the confiscation of non-contraband property.”
A judge Thursday ordered the return of more than $47,000 seized from Baton Rouge rapper NBA YoungBoy when he and 15 others were arrested in September while creating a music video.
One of Kentrell Gaulden s attorneys, James Manasseh, had argued in a court filing that the seizure and detention of the cash was illegal and unconstitutional because the state did not have sufficient evidence to support the confiscation of non-contraband property.
After a brief hearing Thursday, state District Judge Tiffany Foxworth signed an order directing the Baton Rouge Police Department to return the money to Gaulden, 21.
The East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney s Office did not object to the motion to release seized property.
Several national criminal justice advocacy groups have filed a class action lawsuit against judges in the 19th Judicial District Court, alleging their bail practices discriminate against poor people.Â
The lawsuit claims hundreds of people, most of them poor, Black or both, languish in pretrial detention in East Baton Rouge Parish Prison for long periods of time simply because they cannot pay the bail that has been set as the condition for their release. This system inflicts devastating harm on people solely because of their poverty and violates the most fundamental of American axioms, the lawsuit says. That all people are equal under the law and are innocent until they are found guilty. Â
Advocacy groups file lawsuit against EBR officials in hopes of defending impoverished Parish Prison detainees
3 months 2 weeks 5 days ago
Wednesday, December 16 2020
Dec 16, 2020
December 16, 2020 5:59 AM
December 16, 2020
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Source: The Advocate
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BATON ROUGE - Three national criminal justice advocacy groups are aiming to protect impoverished individuals who ve been arrested in East Baton Rouge Parish by means of a class action lawsuit that the groups have filed against judges in Louisiana s 19th Judicial District Court.
According to The Advocate, attorneys with the Fair Fight Initiative, MacArthur Justice Center and Advancement Project National Office banned together to file the lawsuit late Monday (Dec. 14).