A state statute that prohibits a convicted
criminal from profiting by selling his or her
story rights to a publisher or filmmaker. *State law usu. authorizes
prosecutors to seize
royalties from a convicted criminal to place the money in an
escrow account for the crime
victims' benefit. Such a law was first enacted in
New York in
1977, in response to the
lucrative book deals that publishers offered
David Berkowitz, the
serial killer who called himself "
Son of Sam." In
1992 the U.S.
Supreme Court declared New York's Son-of-Sam law
unconstitutional as a content-based speech regulation, prompting many states to amend their laws in an attempt to avoid constitutionality problems.
Simon & Schuster, Inc. v New York State Crime Victims Bd., 502 U.S. 105, 112 S. Ct. 501 (1992).
Berkowitz maintains that the dog told him to do it.