Pittsburgh rapper, Jamal Knox, lost his appeal with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which ruled [opinion, PDF] Tuesday that his song threatening police officers was not protected under the First Amendment.

Officer Michael Kosko and Detective Daniel Zeltner of the Pittsburgh Police were both scheduled to testify against Knox after he was arrested in 2012 on multiple charges, including possession of heroin. Rashee Beasley was arrested alongside Knox.

While these charges were pending, Knox and Beasley wrote and recorded a song entitled “F— the Police,” where both Kosko and Zeltner were threatened by name and had still photos of them included in the music video. Jamal Knox was rearrested for terroristic threats.

Knox appealed the guilty verdict, arguing that his song was protected under the First Amendment as art. The Supreme Court denied this appeal.

Of particular relevance to this case, speech which threatens unlawful violence can subject the speaker to criminal sanction. … Threats of violence fall outside the First Amendment’s protective scope because of the need to “protect individuals from the fear of violence, from the disruption that fear engenders, and from the possibility that the threatened violence will occur.”

The dissenting and concurring opinion [text, PDF] spoke of other musical artists who also walk a fine line with their lyrics.