SON OF SAM as unconstitutional but other states have

followed NY in modifying their statutes to

This was named after David Berkowitz, a New designate profits of the offender subject to an
York serial killer who left the note Son of Sam attachment, not only from those derived from
at the scene of one of his crimes. Since the 1977 selling his crime story.
NY Statute, several states and the federal
Government have enacted various types of Son 45 States have active Son of Sam Statutes
of Sam laws to take any proceeds a criminal Alabama Hawaii Mississippi South
earns for selling his story and give them to the Dakota
victims of the crime or to a victims Alaska Idaho Montana Vermont
Arizona Indiana Nebraska Virginia
compensation fund.
Arkansas Iowa New Mexico Washington
1991 SIMON & SCHUSTER: The Colorado Kansas North West
constitutionality of the NY Son of Sam Law was Carolina Virginia
challenged by the Simon & Schuster Inc. vs. NY Connecticut Kentucky North Wisconsin
Victims Crime Board. Dakota
o This case involved profits from the book Delaware Maine Ohio Wyoming
Wiseguy: A Life of a Mafia, a nonfiction Florida Michigan Oklahoma
work about Organized Crime in NY, Georgia Minnesota Oregon
published by Simon and Schuster. The
book was made with the cooperation of
Henry Hill, a career criminal who agreed 10 States that repealed Son of Sam statutes and then
to testify against organized crime replaced them with active statutes
figures.
o Simon and Schuster argued that the law California (replaced 2002) New York (Original statute
struck down by SC in Simon
was based on the content of a publicati
& Schuster, 1991; replaced
on and therefore violated the FirstAmen 1992)
dment. The Court agreed
The Court's opinion concluded Illinois (replaced 2011) Pennsylvania (replaced
that the New York law was 1995)
inconsistent with the First
Amendment because it ". . . Maryland (replaced 2003) Tennessee (replaced 1994)
singled out speech on a
particular subject for a financial Nevada (replaced 2005) Texas (replaced 2005
burden that it places on no other
speech and no other income. New Jersey (replaced 2003) Utah (replaced 2006)
The Son of Sam law singled out
income derived from expressive
activity and was directed only at
works having a specified 1 State that left Son of Sam statutes active although statute
content. was already struck down by court
The Law was Over-Inclusive:
the law applied to works on any Rhode Island (Bouchard v. Price)
subject as long as the work
expressed the authors thoughts
or recollections about the crime,
however tangentially or 1 State that never enacted Son of Sam statutes
incidentally. If the author
admitted to the crime, it did not New Hampshire
matter whether she was ever
actually accused or convicted.
o NY quickly amended its laws to apply to
any economic benefit to the criminal 4 States that have repealed Son of Sam statutes without
derived from the crime, and not just the replacing them
proceeds from the sale of the offenders
story. Louisiana Missouri
o This redefinition was intended to
eliminate the unconstitutional regulation Massachusetts South Carolina
of expressive activity and to
reconceptualise the law as a regulation
of economic proceeds from the crime.
MODIFICATION OF THE SON OF SAM LAWS:
The SC did not strike down all Son of Sam laws
California California passed the Son of Sam II law,
which permits suits for damages against defendants
convicted of certain serious felonies (notably murder)
to be commenced up to 10 years after conviction.

Ilinois - Illinois repealed its original statute in 1992 (see

below) but enacted a new statute in 2011 that targeted
public officials: 5 ILCS 283 Public Corruption Profit
Forfeiture Act.

Maryland - Enacted in 2003 to replace original statute,

Md. Ann. Code art. 27, 854 (enacted in 1987), which
was repealed in 2001.

The original law was repealed in 2001 and recodified as

Md. Criminal Procedure Code Ann. 11-622. The only
real change was to assert that both written and oral
agreements are part of a notoriety of crimes contract.

Nevada - Right of victim to receive proceeds from

material based upon or related to crime; limitation on
liability.

New Jersey crime victim compensation

Pennsylvania - ENNSYLVANIA CONSOLIDATED

STATUTES
TITLE 42. JUDICIARY AND JUDICIAL PROCEDURE
PART VII. CIVIL ACTIONS AND PROCEEDINGS
CHAPTER 83. PARTICULAR RIGHTS AND
IMMUNITIES
SUBCHAPTER A. RIGHTS OF ACTION

Tennessee - ITLE 29. REMEDIES AND SPECIAL

PROCEEDINGS
CHAPTER 13. CRIMINAL INJURIES COMPENSATION
PART 4. VICTIMS COMPENSATION FROM THE
PROCEEDS OF CRIME
Tenn. Code Ann. 29-13-403 (2000)
29-13-403. Defendants income Collection Deposit
(a) (1) The attorney general and reporter shall collect all
income, from whatever source derived, which is owing to
the defendant, or representative or assignee of the
defendant, after the date of the crime.

Texas