In both the Bailey v. Eminem and the Pahler v. Slayer cases, the courts held that the First Amendment protected the lyrics of the songs. They used similar reasoning to come to this conclusion.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances (USHistory.org, 2015).
Although the lyrics may be deemed insensitive (in Eminem’s case) or even cruel and upsetting (in the Slayer case), they were still protected by the First Amendment.
I feel that the lyrics themselves did not cause the boys to rape, beat, and murder Elyse Pahler, yet I do believe that it played a part in the overall scheme of the crimes. As much as I would like to hold the group responsible, I must agree with the court’s ruling. However, I do believe that something needs to be done to stem the flow of violent movies, music, and video games so readily available to our youth today. I realize protecting our children starts at home, but as long as there is no accountability by these entities, these things will continue to happen.
When analyzing whether an artist should be held liable for the action of their fans, one may have to consider whether that action was a tort or a crime. A tort is a civil offense, where the guilty party may be responsible for paying compensatory and/or punitive damages to