Son of Sam law For other uses of `` Son of Sam '' , see Son of Sam ( disambiguation ) . A Son of Sam law is a law designed to keep criminals from profiting from their crimes by selling their stories to publishers . Such laws authorize the state to seize all money earned from such a deal and use it to compensate the criminal 's victims . The first such law was created in New York after the Son of Sam killings . It was enacted after rampant speculation about publishers offering large amounts of money for the serial killer 's story . The law was invoked in New York eleven times between 1977 and 1990 , including once against Mark David Chapman . Critics disputed the law on First Amendment grounds . Also , it was argued that it would take away the financial incentive for many criminals to tell their stories , some of which ( such as the Watergate scandal ) were of vital interest to the general public . In 1987 , lawyers for Simon and Schuster sued the New York authorities to enjoin enforcement of the Son of Sam law . Their case involved the book Wiseguy , written by Nicholas Pileggi about ex-mobster Henry Hill and used as the basis for the film Goodfellas . The case reached the Supreme Court in 1991 . In an 8-0 ruling , the court ruled the law unconstitutional . Simon & Schuster v . N.Y. Crime Victims Compensation Board 502 U.S. 105 ( 1991 ) . The majority opinion was that the law was overinclusive , and would have prevented the publication of such works as The Autobiography of Malcolm X , Thoreau 's Civil Disobedience , and even The Confessions of Saint Augustine . Though the New York law was struck down , many such laws still exist in other states , mostly because they are so rarely invoked . The Supreme Court ruling actually stated that Son of Sam laws could conceivably be constitutional , but only if written very carefully with regard to First Amendment concerns ; most of the remaining Son of Sam laws are not . 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. in 1963 . The New York law , after numerous revisions , now states that the government can seize all of a convicted felon 's revenue and use it to compensate their victims . Attorneys for rapper Shyne , who was convicted in 1999 of a club shooting , stated that they intended to dispute this law on the grounds that it interfered with the accused 's right to an attorney . With the advent of the Internet and online sales , many Son of Sam laws are now targeting the sale of murderabilia . The constitutionality of these new laws are at this point mostly untested . Categories : Crime | Law Son of Sam 502 105 1991 