Luther “Uncle Luke” Campbell declared Janet Reno “the best that ever did it” in a tribute he penned to the late attorney general.
Reno, who once served as the Miami-Dade County State Attorney and also the first female U.S. Attorney General, died on Monday (November 7) after a battle with Parkinson’s disease.
In his tribute, the rapper-turned-hopeful politician labeled Reno “a true Florida icon.” He also recalled Reno defending the first amendment right of those in 2 Live Crew at a time when criticism for the group was at its peak.
“Reno was the only state prosecutor who didn’t come after 2 Live Crew for singing explicit lyrics when every law enforcement official in the state wanted to throw our asses in jail,” Uncle Luke wrote. “In fact, she defended our first amendment right to be as nasty as we wanted to be. When I formed the Liberty City Optimist Club, Reno was the first person to make a donation to the youth program.”
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Ladies First: In 1993, Reno was nominated by Bill Clinton as the first woman to serve as the United States Attorney General.
Luke later touched on Reno’s stance on deadbeat dads and indiscriminate killing.
“In 1989, I wrote and produced a song about Reno going after deadbeat dads. Performed by cousin and her rap group Anquette, ‘Janet Reno’ was a big hit with single black moms from Overtown to Opa-Locka,” he wrote. “Black dads knew if they didn’t pay their child support, Reno would throw them in jail. And she had zero tolerance for indiscriminate killing. If you murdered an innocent person, you were getting life in prison. Reno knew how to deal with the problems in the African American community.”
