Son of Sam law

A Son of Sam law is any law designed to keep criminals from profiting from the publicity of their crimes, often by selling their stories to publishers. While the term is most often used in the United States, it is also sometimes applied to laws passed with similar provisions in other nations.

Son of Sam laws are not intended to enable asset forfeiture, the seizing of assets acquired directly as a result of criminal activity. Where asset forfeiture looks to remove the profitability of crimes by taking away money and assets gained from the crime, Son of Sam laws are designed so that criminals are unable to take advantage of the notoriety of their crimes. Such laws often authorize the state to seize money earned from deals such as book/movie biographies and paid interviews and use it to compensate the criminal's victims.

The term "Son of Sam" is derived from serial killer David Berkowitz, who used the name during his notorious murder spree in the mid-1970s New York. After his arrest in August 1977, Berkowitz's intense presence in the media led to widespread speculation that he might sell his story to a writer or filmmaker. Although Berkowitz denied wanting any kind of deal, the New York State Legislature swiftly passed preemptive legal statutes anyway, the first such "Son of Sam law" in the U.S.

In certain cases, a Son of Sam law can be extended beyond the criminals themselves to include friends, neighbors, and family members of the lawbreaker who seek to profit by telling publishers and filmmakers of their relation to the criminal. In other cases, a person may not financially benefit from the sale of a story or any other mementos pertaining to the crime.

The first such law was created in New York after the Son of Sam murders committed by serial killer David Berkowitz. It was enacted after rumors abounded about publishers and movie studios offering large amounts of money for Berkowitz's story. The law was invoked in New York eleven times between 1977 and 1990, including once against Mark David Chapman, the murderer of musician John Lennon.

Critics disputed the law in the Supreme Court on First Amendment grounds. It was argued that "Son of Sam" laws take away the financial incentive for many criminals to tell their stories, some of which (such as the Watergate scandal and the assassination of John F. Kennedy) were of vital interest to the general public.

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