Law School: Criminal Procedure Class and Jay-Z

In law school, criminal procedure is one of the more engaging classes you'll take.

You probably already know about the Miranda warning, but there's a lot more to learn in Criminal Procedure class. If his article about Jay-Z is any indication of his teaching style, Caleb Mason is probably one of the best professors to take it from.

He recently wrote an article for the St. Louis University Law Journal titled "Jay-Z's 99 Problems, Verse 2: A Close Reading With Fourth Amendment Guidance for Cops and Perps."

You can download the full article as a PDF, but here's an excerpt:

Cause I’m young and I’m black and my hat’s real low? At the time the song takes place, the New Jersey State Police had an active “drug courier profiling” program that would absolutely have included the observable facts here: Jay-Z was: (1) young, (2) male, (3) black, (4) wearing attire favored by drug dealers (the hat way down low), (5) driving an expensive car (in the video), (6) traveling on I-95 (the primary route for bringing drugs into and out of the city). Such profiles are of questionable validity as the sole basis for a stop, but there is no constitutional reason why they cannot inform an officer’s subjective determination to stop someone if there is objective probable cause for the stop (for example, speeding).  The Supreme Court has answered this question definitively: pretext is not a basis for Fourth Amendment suppression if there is objective probable cause. 

[ed. Do I look like a mind reader sir,] I don’t know...Smart response for two reasons.  First, it allows you to make a record of the officer’s asserted basis for the stop.  Second, it doesn’t admit any misconduct.  There’s no need whatsoever to blurt out, “Sorry, officer, I know I was speeding!”

Be sure to check out the full article. It's a fun, easy read, and it serves as a good look at the issues you'll learn about in Criminal Procedure class.

And here's Verse 2, in full, so you can get a sense of the legal issues raised:

The year is '94 and in my trunk is raw
In my rear view mirror is the mother fuckin' law
I got two choices y'all pull over the car or
Bounce on the devil put the pedal to the floor
Now I ain't tryin to see no highway chase with jake
Plus I got a few dollars I can fight the case
So I pull over to the side of the road
I heard "Son do you know what I'm stoppin' you for?"
Cause I'm young and I'm black and my hat's real low
Do I look like a mind reader sir, I don't know
Am I under arrest or should I guess some mo'?
"Well you was doin' fifty five in a fifty four"
"License and registration and step out of the car"
"Are you carryin' a weapon on you I know a lot of you are"
I ain't steppin' out of shit all my papers legit
"Do you mind if I look 'round the car a little bit?"
Well my glove compartment is locked so is the trunk and the back
And I know my rights so you gon' need a warrant for that
"Aren't you sharp as a tack? are some type of lawyer or something?"
"Or somebody important or somethin?"
"Nah, I ain't pass the bar but I know a little bit
Enough that you won't illegally search my shit
"Well see how smart you are when the K-9's come"
I got 99 problems but a bitch ain't one