Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker, the new judge in Young Thug’s sprawling Atlanta gang trial, has been met with a surge of motions, including a renewed demand to release the rapper from "torturous conditions" he's faced in jail for over two years.

After Judge Whitaker took over the racketeering case, Thug’s attorney, Brian Steel, asked her on July 23 to release the rapper on bond, allowing him to live under house arrest with strict monitoring until a verdict is reached. Steel argued that previous rulings had forced Thug to “languish” in jail without being convicted of a crime.

Young Thug (Jeffery Williams) and others were indicted in May 2022 for allegedly operating YSL Records as a violent gang. The trial began in January 2023 but has faced delays, including a 10-month jury selection and the removal of the presiding judge. Since his arrest, Thug has remained in jail, with previous bond requests denied over concerns he might intimidate witnesses.

Steel's motion promised strict house arrest conditions, including electronic monitoring and off-duty police security, to alleviate these concerns. According to a report by Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he described Thug’s jail conditions as “tortuous,” including 22-hour isolation and “inedible food.”

The filing also contests Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' decision to leverage Williams' well-known lyrics against him, arguing that the rapper was unfairly targeted for “lawfully exercising his freedom of speech and expression in his profession as a musical artist.”

“The state seeks to insinuate criminal conduct from quotations from song lyrics and social media posts,” the filing read. “To weaponize these words by charging overt acts to support a supposed conspiracy is unconscionable and unconstitutional.”

The motion continues:

“The failure to schedule a bond hearing for this innocent man, coupled with the inhumane and unconstitutional treatment of Mr. Williams, mandates that this Honorable Court grant bond until a hearing can be held.”

The Fulton County Superior Court Judge Whitaker is also facing multiple motions for a mistrial. Attorneys for Yak Gotti and Quamarvious Nichols cited the previous Judge Ural Glanville’s secret meeting with prosecutors and argued that a new judge could not make informed rulings after missing the first 19 months of the trial. Prosecutors have also asked the judge to stop defense attorneys from making “extrajudicial statements to the media” to avoid prejudicing jurors. Ultimately Glanville was removed from the trial last weekwell-known.

Whitaker has set a hearing date for next week to address these motions.