L to R: California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Ice-T, Insert Foot, Tipper Gore and Snoop Dogg.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom just signed a flurry of bills into laws, including one that seemingly flew under the radar because so many didn’t know it was necessary.

Rendering: Adam Pardee/STAFF.

It’s called the Decriminalizing Artistic Expression Act. It restricts the use of rap lyrics as evidence in California courts.

I had no idea that was a thing, which, considering I’m a white 50-something man living in the suburbs who hasn’t listened to hip-hop since the 17th century, isn’t very shocking.

In a press release, the Black Music Action Coalition said the bill was a “crucial step in the right direction” when it comes to not injecting [more] racial bias [stupidity] into court proceedings.”

Young Thug and Gunna were indicted for alleged gang activity and criminal conspiracy and other things I don’t know about, therefore have no opinion whether they’re true.

But part of the cases prosecutors built involved song lyrics. I didn’t think that was a thing anymore since they stopped letting Tipper Gore’s husband run for office.

Apparently, in an age in which a U.S. president gets away with telling people to overthrow the government after they drink bleach to avoid Mexican rapists … we’re suddenly taking song lyrics literally.

Vulture quoted Dina LaPolt, entertainment attorney and cofounder of Songwriters of North America, saying “This legislation sets up important guardrails that will help courts hold prosecutors accountable and prevent them from criminalizing Black and Brown artistic expression. Thank you, Gov. Newsom, for setting the standard. We hope Congress will pass similar legislation, as this is a nationwide problem.”

What a fantastic idea—for so many reasons.

First. I didn’t know prosecutors were using lyrics against rappers, but this seems as racist as complimenting African American people for being articulate.

If lyrics to songs are really pertinent to criminal convictions, then our jails should be full of white metalers who have been threatening nuclear war and mass murder for decades.

Neither of which, by the way, I have issues with (singing about it, not actually doing it). I know some of those guys and they’re about murderous as the last kitten video your mom sent you.

Speaking of moms … it’s all image, image, image. The music world is so far removed from reality, my own dear mother asked me last week what I thought about that rapper Snoop Hooty Hoot dating Martha Stewart.

Uh…

Snoop Doggy Hoot used to be associated with the worst criminals on planet Earth a couple decades ago. God-fearing, law-loving white people weren’t even allowed to think about Hoot Dogg and his friends at Death Row Records without being written up by their homeowner’s association.

Now, 75-year-old white grandmas think it’s cute that Hoot Snoopy Dog is dating America’s elderly hostess. Like those thrash metalers who secretly bounce grandchildren on their knees when not charging fans to hear them sing songs about impaling the masses … Hootie and the Snoop Fish still realizes – and always has – it’s all about image.

Remember when Ice-T used to yell lyrics about hating the police … until he saw how large the checks were for playing a policeman on TV?

Looking and sounding tough sells like science fiction, because it’s a world most of us can’t imagine. That’s why we pay them to do it for us.

The second reason is easy: free speech. Look it up. We allow voters to elect people to Congress who then earn a taxpayer-funded salary while telling constituents women are descended from a man’s rib. It’s a pretty soft bar, or it’s supposed to be—unless you live in the South and like accurate history books.

The third reason is it’s another bold political move from Gavin Newsom’s campaign to distance himself from his boring, mushy, unimaginative political party. I have no idea if he means it and don’t really care. Because it’s the right thing to do.

Newsom has been saying, and doing, quite a few things lately leading some people to believe Democrats have some spine, after all. I mean, he did eat maskless at a restaurant I can’t afford a couple years ago, but still.

I can’t say for sure, but I imagine no big traditional political donors were pining for someone to stand up and do something about prosecutors targeting rappers by treating their lyrics literally. Once again, despite the boring anti-California rhetoric, the state and its leaders still occasionally do the right thing. The Decriminalizing Artistic Expression Act is one example.

Follow music critic Tony Hicks at Twitter.com/TonyBaloney1967.