About Us:

This site represents an attempt to make years of work and data collection available to the public.  In 2016, Professors Erik Nielson and Andrea L. Dennis, with the help of many students at the University of Richmond and the University of Georgia Law School, began collecting information related to “rap on trial” cases.  As Nielson and Dennis were writing Rap on Trial: Race, Lyrics, and Guilt in America, Professor Dennis began working with journalist Jaeah Lee, Type Investigations, and law students at the University of Georgia to collect and assemble these data in a more systematic way – culminating in this piece by Lee in the New York Times.  

Since then, Professor Nielson and Angel Auman, a University of Richmond undergraduate student, have continued to collect case information, resulting in a database of nearly 700 cases.  None of this would be possible without the students, journalists, and practicing attorneys who have helped us along the way. And a special thanks to the Spatial Analysis Lab (Dr. Kyle Redican and Katie Anderson) at the University of Richmond for their help executing the interactive map.