Invoking Afroman, California lawmaker moves to crack down on cops who steal
.JPG "Assemblymember Tom Lackey, R-Palmdale, listens during a session on May 8, 2025.")
You’d be forgiven for assuming that Assemblymember Tom Lackey — a former California state trooper, Republican lawmaker and member of the Church of Latter Day Saints — isn’t a fan of scofflaw rapper Afroman, whose greatest hit is likely the early 2000s marijuana anthem “Because I Got High.”
You’d be forgiven, but you’d be wrong.
For starters, both men are from Palmdale, Lackey said Thursday, “... something that I’ve always marveled at and enjoyed, quite frankly.”
He spoke to a Sacramento Bee reporter shortly after invoking the rapper’s name to win passage through the Assembly of his bill to impose career-ending consequences on law enforcement officers caught stealing in the line of duty.
“There’s a real dichotomy between drug usage and law enforcement,” Lackey said, noting Afroman’s fame peaked while the lawmaker was still pursuing his 28-year career with the California Highway Patrol. “But I’ve always appreciated his ability to use satire and he’s a very funny guy. And he’s also a very smart guy.”
Afroman experienced a cultural renaissance after unleashing that satirical wit following a 2022 raid on his Ohio farmhouse by local sheriff's deputies. The rapper, whose real name is Joseph Foreman, recorded the aggressive raid on his home surveillance system in videos that showed officers riffling through cash and his CD collection and kicking down his door. In one moment, video captures a deputy taking a second look at a lemon pound cake set out on the rapper’s kitchen counter.
The Adams County Sheriff’s Office conducted the raid on suspicion of drug trafficking and kidnapping — but found nothing with which to incriminate or charge Afroman. The rapper in turn accused deputies of stealing $400 when they confiscated and later returned thousands of dollars in cash. The sheriff, after a review, said evidence was miscounted but denied theft.
Afroman published songs and music videos taunting the deputies. Claiming the public humiliation made it difficult to do their jobs, they sued him for defamation, seeking $3.9 million. Afroman prevailed at trial with relative ease — his lawyer called only one witness and the jury deliberated less than six hours. The trial was livestreamed, however, and filled with enough cringeworthy testimony from the aggrieved deputies that it led to a number of viral clips. Far from quieting Afroman’s cyber revenge, the deputies’ legal bid drew renewed and greater attention to his songs about them, including one titled “Lemon Pound Cake.”
And that’s the song Lackey cited on the Assembly floor as his bill faced its final vote head of Friday’s deadline for legislation to cross over to the Senate side.
“Assembly Bill 2337 will be what I’m characterizing as the Lemon Pound Cake bill,” Lackey told his colleagues. “Those of you who have access to YouTube might want to check out the satirical depiction of what I’m talking about.”
His bill predates this year’s trial, Lackey told The Bee, and was not inspired by Afroman’s allegation of theft but instead by experiences from his own career in which he felt law enforcement agencies didn’t come down as strictly on misconduct as he thought was merited.
“Public trust in law enforcement is super powerful,” he said. “It’s very critical for effective law enforcement.”
His bill adds theft, “committed by a peace officer under color of authority,” to the list of offenses considered to be serious misconduct by the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, the body that regulates and certifies law enforcement officers in the state. That would allow POST to decertify an officer caught stealing, preventing them from working in law enforcement again in California.
He decided only at the last minute to nickname his legislation the Lemon Pound Cake bill, Lackey said.
“I just thought this was an opportunity that I could connect with this particular issue to have fun, but at the same time address misconduct,” he said. “Because that’s what Aftroman did, he exposed misconduct. And I appreciate that.”
One lawmaker Lackey’s unofficial bill title wasn’t lost upon was Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, D-Jefferson Park. Bryan has spoken publicly about overcoming systemic barriers in his own life as a Black man and has centered his political career largely on criminal justice reform.
“Are you by chance referencing a Palmdale legend?” Bryan asked on the floor. If so, he said, add his name to the bill as a coauthor.
Both Bryan and Lackey told The Bee that though they come from very different backgrounds, they’ve found ways to work together on police and justice reform issues throughout their time in the Legislature.
“He’s been one of those people who has reached across the aisle,” Bryan said. “Even at times when not all Democrats are where they need to be, Tom has helped.”
Last year, the two lawmakers worked together on legislation to ban agreements law enforcement agencies around the state used to hide some officers’ misconduct following a San Francisco Chronicle investigation into the subject. Lackey’s early endorsement of the bill smoothed a legislative effort that could have gotten complicated, Bryan said.
“If Tom and I are doing it together, it’s a powerful thing,” Bryan said. “It’s going to the governor.”
Lackey’s bill this year does not have any opposition and is supported by Peace Officers Research Association of California, a law enforcement lobby group. The Assembly voted unanimously to advance it to the Senate.
This story was originally published May 28, 2026 at 4:34 PM.
