( CNN ) -- Last week , the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear arguments in Elonis v. U.S. , a case that dates back to 2010 , when 28-year-old Anthony Elonis was charged with multiple counts of communicating threats after he posted a series of violent messages to Facebook . Although Elonis maintained that many of the posts , which included menacing statements directed at his wife and a female FBI agent , were merely rap lyrics , the jury was unconvinced . He was found guilty on all but one of the counts and was sentenced to 44 months in prison . The Court 's primary purpose in taking on Elonis v. U.S. will be to clarify what actually constitutes a `` true threat . '' Today , courts across the country are using dramatically different standards : Some argue that subjective intent is important in determining whether something is a threat , while others do not , focusing instead on how a `` reasonable '' person would interpret a message . Since the Supreme Court has n't addressed this issue directly in over a decade -- a period that has seen the explosion of social media and , with it , a radical shift in the way we communicate -- the time is certainly ripe for a new look . But the timing of Elonis is crucial for another reason . Over this same decade , we have also witnessed the rapid expansion of prosecutors ' use of rap lyrics as evidence in criminal proceedings . In the last two years alone , we have served as expert witnesses or consultants in dozens of such cases , and our research suggests there have been hundreds more across the country . Rather than acknowledge rap as a fictional form told in rhymed verse , one that privileges figurative , often hyperbolic , speech delivered by an invented character , prosecutors have become skilled at convincing judges and juries that the lyrics are autobiographical confessions of illegal behavior or evidence of a defendant 's motive or intent with respect to an alleged crime . In effect , they have used the judiciary to re-define rap music as something other than art . Given research demonstrating the prejudicial effect that rap , especially violent `` gangsta '' rap , can have on potential jurors , it 's no surprise that prosecutors misrepresent the genre in this way . Nor should it come as a surprise that the overwhelming majority of defendants in these cases are young black and Latino men . Rap has always carried the baggage of America 's enduring fears about young men of color , even as its history is rooted in a broader hip hop culture that was conceived by many artists as an alternative to violence , a tool to educate , and a pathway to a better life . Without that context , judges and jurors become easy prey for prosecutors who use rap lyrics to secure convictions , often when their cases are weak . There are examples of such cases to be found across the country , but one of the most recent and high profile has been State v. Skinner in New Jersey . The case involves Vonte Skinner , a drug dealer and aspiring rapper who was charged with attempted murder for his alleged involvement in a 2005 shooting . During his 2008 trial , prosecutors introduced as evidence 13 pages of his violent rap lyrics -- even though they were all composed before the shooting ( some of them years before ) and none contained specific details about the victim or the crime . Despite the paucity of other evidence against Skinner , the jury found him guilty . In 2012 , however , an appellate court overturned the verdict , finding that the rap lyrics should n't have been admitted as evidence . The justices wrote : `` We have a significant doubt about whether the jurors would have found defendant guilty if they had not been required to listen to the extended reading of these disturbing and highly prejudicial lyrics . '' The State appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court of New Jersey , which heard arguments in the case in April and is expected to rule later this year . Unlike Skinner , the Elonis case is in some ways atypical of others we 've seen : Elonis himself is white , and unlike many defendants , he shows no sign of aspiring to be a professional rapper . ( He claimed to be using rap as a `` therapeutic '' medium through which to vent his frustrations , while his wife said he had not regularly listened to rap music and that she had never seen him write rap lyrics during their seven-year marriage . ) In one respect , though , his case is frighteningly typical . Whereas rap is usually used to demonstrate a defendant 's involvement in some underlying offense , there is a rapidly growing strain of cases in which rap itself constitutes the crime . As with Elonis , the lyrics , often posted via social media , are treated as threats and prosecuted as such . And jurors who are perfectly `` reasonable '' will convict , even when the defendant is merely following the conventions of a musical genre that , like horror films or gangster novels , should n't be confused with reality . At his trial , Elonis claimed that his lyrics were heavily influenced by Eminem , the best selling rapper of all time who rose to fame by pushing the lyrical envelope -- even to the point of fantasizing about killing his wife , not unlike Elonis did when he posted , `` There 's one way to love you but a thousand ways to kill you . I 'm not going to rest until your body is a mess , soaked in blood and dying from all the little cuts . '' Elonis maintained he never intended to act out his lyrics , again echoing Eminem , who made the critical distinction between art and reality when he said , `` I do say things that I think will shock people . But I do n't do things to shock people . '' When the Supreme Court hears Elonis v. U.S. this fall , arguments are likely to focus on the legal standards used to determine what does and does not constitute a true threat . In a May op-ed , we joined Professor Clay Calvert in urging the Court to take this case to provide clarity to this important area of law . At the same time , we think the justices would be wise to use the Elonis case as an opportunity to address the growing prosecution of rap music specifically . No other fictional form is singled out this way , and if the Court remains silent about it , more people can expect to be imprisoned for their art . If that 's not a true threat , then what is ? Join us on Facebook.com/CNNOpinion .
Supreme Court to hear case involving rap lyrics used to prosecute a 28-year-old man . Authors say prosecutors increasingly use rap lyrics to prejudice juries . The U.S. Justice Department says it is reviewing the decision and will decide whether to appeal if necessary.