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	Son of Sam law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		A Son of Sam law is a law designed to keep criminals from profiting from their crimes by selling their stories to publishers.
		In 1987, lawyers for Simon and Schuster sued the New York authorities to enjoin enforcement of the Son of Sam law.
		The state of California's Son of Sam law was struck down in 2002 after being used against Barry Keenan, one of the men who kidnapped Frank Sinatra, Jr.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Son_of_Sam_law (491 words)

	Tennessee News
		The principle behind "Son of Sam" laws holds that it is contrary to public policy to allow violent criminals to profit from the re-telling of their crimes while their victims suffer financially and are forced to endure the added emotional pain from the publicity.
		The Kansas law applies to speech-related profits "provided, such book, magazine or other publication, movie, radio or television presentation or live entertainment of any kind deals principally with the crime for which the person is accused and convicted." (4) Another common change has been to restrict the notoriety-for-profit statutes to convicted offenders.
		"Son of Sam" laws were drafted to address the public outrage that resulted when offenders were seen to profit from the notoriety resulting from their crimes.
	www.circleofhope-ms.com /newsletter5.html (1417 words)

	Untitled Document (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		The notorious “Son of Sam” killer, David Berkowitz’s attempt to profit from the murders he committed in New York City for months, brought on a constitutional battle over profiting for crime that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
		The first case spurred what became known as the “Son of Sam” law barring profit from crime, but the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately ruled that it was unconstitutional to prevent criminals from exercising their First Amendment rights, allowing the criminals to tell their stories and financially benefit from them.
		The “Son of Sam” law was ushered in after a media frenzy surrounding the killings in 1976 and 1977 in New York City.
	web.pointpark.edu /~stnews/sonofsam.html (689 words)

	CJR - abu-jamal and son of sam, by Liza Featherstone
		That law decreed that the state would confiscate any income that a person earned from accounts of his or her illegal deeds, and would put it into an escrow account.
		The state's new law, rather than specifically targeting earnings from speech, is aimed at all "profits received from commission of crime." Under the old law, the state confiscated the earnings automatically; now, the convict has to give up the money only if a victim sues for it and wins.
		In "Abu-Jamal and Son of Sam" from the September/October 1995 issue of CJR we incorrectly attribute a 1981 Peabody Award to Mumia Abu-Jamal, the former radio journalist sentenced to death in 1982 for the murder of police officer Daniel Faulkner.
	archives.cjr.org /year/95/5/jamal.asp (969 words)

	CJCENTRAL: Criminal Law Today, 2E: Glossary
		also known as notoriety-for-profit laws, are statutes that provide support for the rights of victims by denying convicted offenders the opportunity to further capitalize on their crimes.
		Son of Sam laws set the stage for civil action against infamous offenders who might otherwise profit from the sale of their "story."
		law in the form of statutes or formal written strictures, made by a legislature or governing body with the power to make law.
	www.prenhall.com /schmalleger/crimlaw3e/glossary/s.html (860 words)

	SON OF SAM: TRUE CRIME BOOKS ABOUT DAVID BERKOWITZ, SERIAL KILLER
		The "Son of Sam" nickname came from a neighbor/landlord Sam Carr.
		The new law, quickly named for Berkowitz, authorized the state to seize all money earned from such a deal from a criminal for five years, with intentions to use the seized money to compensate victims.
		This is not so much a film about the Son of Sam, but rather about the times in which was running rampant and his effect on the world at large during that time period.
	www.true-crimes.com /son_of_sam.html (938 words)

	CJR - Sammy Meets Son of Sam, by Ellen Alderman
		The law required that any income a criminal received for "expressions" regarding his crimes be turned over to the New York State Crime Victim's Board to be paid to the victims and their families.
		Under the new SSL, a writer who has contracted with a convicted or confessed criminal is obligated only to notify the board, and may keep all his or her profits from the work.
		The New York attorney general maintains that the new SSL is constitutional because in targeting all profits from a crime, the law only incidentally affects speech.
	archives.cjr.org /year/98/2/gravano.asp (844 words)

	Rossum unlikely to turn lurid crime tale into riches \| The San Diego Union-Tribune
		California's original “Son of Sam law,” enacted in 1983, once barred criminals from profiting from their crimes through book or movie deals by diverting those profits to the victims.
		“Son of Sam” is the signature used by David Berkowitz, a serial killer who terrorized New York City in the 1970s, on letters he wrote to police and to the news media before he was captured.
		After the repeal of the original “Son of Sam” law, the California Legislature passed what was known as “Son of Sam II” in 2002, which gave victims of violent crimes and their families a decade, rather than a year, in which to sue felons for monetary damages.
	www.signonsandiego.com /uniontrib/20060326/news_1m26rossum.html (1453 words)

	freedomforum.org: California case could determine future of 'Son of Sam' laws
		'Son of Sam' laws and the Simon & Schuster decision
		She noted that the law could be applied to Jesse Jackson, who was arrested in 1963 for a sit-in in North Carolina, or Bertrand Russell, who was arrested for a sit-down protest against nuclear weapons.
		Keenan appealed to a California appeals court, arguing that the Son of Sam law was unconstitutional.
	www.freedomforum.org /templates/document.asp?documentID=13335 (1625 words)

	Son of Sam David Berkowitz
		Son of Sam, was a 1970s New York City serial killer who killed six people and wounded several others.
		Calling himself "the Son of Sam" in a letter left at one of the crime scenes, Berkowitz claimed voices were ordering him to kill.
		If the Son of Sam hadn't been a serial killer, he'd have been a regular guy -- but then, he wouldn't be the subject of a movie, either.
	www.karisable.com /skazberk.htm (816 words)

	DCBA Brief, October 2004 Issue -
		These laws are named after David Berkowitz (the individual upon whom the Son of Sam moniker was placed), and are generally designed so that the old maxim of "crime does not pay" can be legally enforced.
		This Son of Sam law had, without a doubt, a worthy cause: ensuring that the victims or the families of victims were compensated before the criminal himself/herself was.
		So far no Son of Sam statute has survived a challenge to its constitutionality, even though the Supreme Court hinted that a properly worded statute with substantially the same ends could pass constitutional muster.56 The door is certainly open for a more narrow Son of Sam statute.
	www.dcba.org /brief/octissue/2004/northern1004.htm (2272 words)

	firstamendmentcenter.org: Arts & First Amendment in Speech - Topic
		These statutes, known as “Son of Sam” laws, are designed to take money criminals and ex-cons earn from expressive works about their crimes and give it to their victims or their victims’ family members.
		Berkowitz was called the “Son of Sam” because he claimed that a spirit named Sam told him (through a neighbor’s dog) to murder his victims.
		She wrote that the law could be applied to Jesse Jackson, who was arrested in 1963 for a sit-in in North Carolina, or Bertrand Russell, who was arrested in 1961 for a sit-down protest against nuclear weapons.
	www.firstamendmentcenter.org /Speech/arts/topic.aspx?topic=son_of_sam (1964 words)

	Felons Can Keep Profits, Justices Rule
		The seven justices said the state's "Son of Sam" law violates the First Amendment because it makes a target of a criminal's books, films, articles, performances and other protected "expressive works" solely because they include an account of the crime.
		California is one of more than 40 states with "Son of Sam" laws, a popular approach to victims' rights intended to prevent criminals from cashing in on their notoriety.
		The law is "calculated to confiscate all income from a wide range of protected expressive works by convicted felons, on a wide variety of subjects and themes," wrote Justice Marvin Baxter in the court opinion, "simply because those works include substantial accounts of the prior felonies."
	www.crimelynx.com /sonsam.html (1036 words)

	Legal Ethics (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		The civil law is seen as out-of-control and subverting democracy since lawyers are now apparently using the courts to obtain reforms which have traditionally been the province of federal or state legislatures.
		Son of Sam laws cover any sort of media: movie deals, books, magazine articles, tape recordings, radio or TV presentations; and Son of Sam laws are quite controversial laws.
		While there is a strong common law tradition that criminals should not profit from their crimes, the case law seems to be evolving in the inmates' favor on this matter.
	faculty.ncwc.edu /toconnor/415/415lect11.htm (3886 words)

	CNN.com - Literary loopholes - Jun 16, 2005
		The Son of Sam laws went into effect in New York in 1977 and were originally enacted to stop Berkowitz from profiting by selling his story.
		The laws also require that the contracting party pay any proceeds directly to the actual victims or, as an alternative, to a state victims'-compensation fund.
		The Son of Sam laws were actually reversed by the Supreme Court back in the case of Simon and Schuster, Inc. v.
	www.cnn.com /2005/LAW/06/14/grace.excerpt.01/index.html (797 words)

	State High Court Strikes Down ‘Son of Sam’ Law as Unconstitutional
		California’s “Son of Sam” law is facially invalid under the First Amendment and the state Constitution to the extent that it permits seizure of all monies due a convicted felon from expressive materials that include the story of the crime, the state Supreme Court unanimously ruled yesterday.
		The law provides for the freezing of all proceeds due the subject from the sale of the story of his or her crime.
		Baxter said the law was overinclusive and arbitrary in targeting all proceeds of a crime, rather than merely the amount necessary to compensate victims, and in targeting nearly all expressive materials related to a crime for which the subject has been convicted.
	www.metnews.com /articles/keen022202.htm (621 words)

	Criminal Resource Manual 1105 The First Amendment Problems of "Son of Sam" Laws (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		The Court ruled that New York's "Son of Sam" law was inconsistent with the First Amendment because it was "overinclusive" in that it "reaches a wide range of literature that does not enable a criminal to profit from his crime while a victim remains uncompensated." 502 U.S. at 121-22.
		On either rationale, the "Son of Sam" law was inconsistent with the First Amendment because it was not narrowly tailored to advance the State's interest in compensating victims.
		The State's interest in compensating victims from the fruits of crime is a compelling one, but the Son of Sam law is not narrowly tailored to accomplish that objective." 502 U.S. at 123.
	www.usdoj.gov /usao/eousa/foia_reading_room/usam/title9/crm01105.htm (435 words)

	FOXNews.com - Lis On Law: Sex, Lies and a Book Deal? - FOX Fan
		Federal law imposes up to a 30-year jail sentence on anyone who “travels in foreign commerce, and engages in any illicit sexual conduct with another person.” The fact is, however, there is no evidence that Karr actually engaged in sex with a minor while he was there.
		It’s true there are so-called “Son of Sam” laws (named after the notorious killer David Berkowitz) that are aimed at preventing felons from profiting by selling their stories, but history has shown such laws to be constitutionally vulnerable under the best of circumstances.
		California's "Son of Sam law" was struck down by the California State Supreme Court in 2002 based on similar reasoning — Nevada’s Supreme Court followed suit in 2004.
	www.foxnews.com /story/0,2933,224597,00.html (1123 words)

	Tampabay: New book by Al-Arian prompts fresh look at Son of Sam law
		With mixed results, the "Son of Sam" laws and their progeny have been used to go after the earnings of a variety of notorious figures, from John Wayne Gacy and his creepy clown paintings to Gainesville serial killer Danny Rolling's tell-all book.
		But since the initial Son of Sam laws, the courts have grappled with the delicate balance between First Amendment rights and the distasteful notion of criminals cashing in on their notoriety.
		Florida's current Son of Sam law allows the state to place a lien against the earnings convicted felons receive for recounting their crimes.
	www.sptimes.com /2004/10/25/Tampabay/New_book_by_Al_Arian_.shtml (1369 words)

	Law.com - Gunning for Royalties
		Hammond says forfeiture laws similar to Arizona's are in force in 29 other states and in the federal code, creating a substantial "financial disincentive" to potential authors.
		The law used by Arizona, unlike Son of Sam laws, is aimed at all assets that resulted from racketeering activities, not just those from expressive works, the state argues.
		But Gravano's brief counters that the law is not content-neutral, since it targets only the profits from expressive works related to his racketeering activities.
	www.law.com /jsp/article.jsp?id=1073667920405 (676 words)

	CNN - California court to rehear case on criminal's right to profit from crime - September 2, 1999
		California's "Victims Rights Law" is worded differently, and in the opinion of the state appeals court did not involve a similar unconstitutional restriction.
		Rohde said that along with the constitutional challenges to the California law, Keenan was also arguing that because his crime was committed long before the "Son of Sam" laws went into effect, he should not be subject to their provisions.
		Rohde said he intended to argue that "Son of Sam" type restrictions were aimed at hobbling former felons long after their jail time is finished.
	www.cnn.com /US/9909/02/crime.sam/index.html (607 words)

	FindLaw's Writ - Hilden: When Crime Pays, Who Should Get the Money?
		It was nicknamed the "Son of Sam" law, because it was prompted by reports that "Son of Sam" serial killer David Berkowitz was set to reap a great deal of money from the sale of his story.
		Perhaps the most glaring of these flaws was that the law extended to all works that even briefly mentioned a long-ago crime, and that it applied even if there had been no conviction.
		The point is that such suits, unlike "Son of Sam" laws, are not intended to target free speech in particular.
	writ.news.findlaw.com /hilden/20040302.html (1723 words)

	Straight Dope Staff Report: How are criminals prevented from profiting from their crimes?
		These maxims are dictated by public policy, have their foundation in universal law administered in all civilized countries, and have nowhere been superseded by statutes." In other words, the court decided that public policy required it to read the statute to bar Palmer's claim.
		States enacted these "Son of Sam" laws after rumors that the serial killer known by that name, David Berkowitz, had received financial offers from publishers.
		Son of Sam laws were designed to prevent killers from profiting by selling their stories and to compensate victims.
	www.straightdope.com /mailbag/mcriminalprofit.html (878 words)

	Letters returned to Son of Sam \| The World \| The Australian
		NEW YORK: Son of Sam killer David Berkowitz has settled a lawsuit in which he accused his former lawyer of stealing and profiting from his personal property.
		Sam Carr, a neighbour of Berkowitz, had a dog through which Berkowitz claimed he got he demonic orders to kill.
		Following Berkowitz's murder spree, the Son of Sam laws authorised states to seize all money earned from publishing or movie deals from a criminal for five years.
	www.theaustralian.news.com.au /story/0,20867,20658050-2703,00.html (451 words)

	David Berkowitz - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		In perhaps his first suggestion that the Son of Sam shootings were connected to other crimes, in October, 1978, Berkowitz mailed a book about witchcraft and other occult subjects to police in North Dakota.
		One major side effect of his murder spree were the "Son of Sam laws." The first of these laws was enacted in the state of New York after rampant speculation about publishers offering Berkowitz large sums of money for his story.
		Sons of Sam Horn (est 1998), a popular online message board devoted to the Boston Red Sox, gets its name from a combined reference to the Berkowitz case and former Sox player Sam Horn.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Son_of_Sam (4458 words)

	justdotchristina » Blog Archive » A Hard Line (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
		As noted in the article, there are some thirty states which have “Son of Sam” laws on the books; however, these are seldom challenged.
		These laws were named after the serial killer David Berkowitz, aka Son of Sam, who killed six people and wounded several others in the late 1970s.
	justdotchristina.mu.nu /?p=55 (2147 words)

	Jens Soering Author Way of The Prisoner - FAQ (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-22)
		The original "Son-of-Sam" law was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1991; the case citation is Simon & Schuster v.
		The court ruled that the law violated the First Amendment (guaranteeing freedom of speech) because it "singled out speech on a particular subject for a financial burden that it places on no other speech and no other income" (at 123).
		However, less than 2% of "old law" inmates convicted of violent crimes are actually granted parole, so in practice (though not in law) parole has been abolished for prisoners like me, too.
	www.jenssoering.com /faq (1102 words)

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