Bill would confiscate
profit from felons' art
Friday, April 13, 2007
STAN DIEL
News staff writer
Inmates in Alabama prisons would find
it more difficult to profit from their crimes under a
bill introduced in the Legislature, sponsors said
Thursday.
Separate versions of the bill were
introduced simultaneously in the House and Senate would
broaden language in existing law to make it illegal for
a felon to profit from the sale of art or memorabilia if
it is related to his crime, or if its value was enhanced
by the criminal's notoriety.
Profits inmates might earn trading on
their crimes would be turned over to the state, and
would go toward restitution and payment of civil
judgments.
The measure follows a January report
in The Birmingham News about two Death Row inmates whose
sketches and paintings - some appearing to portray their
victims - were being sold on the Internet.
Rep. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, who
introduced the bill in the House, said the state's
current law was modeled after New York's "Son of Sam"
law, and doesn't specifically address the sale of art.
Inmates' sale of artwork or
memorabilia not only wrongly benefits the criminal, Ward
said, "It makes the victim's family relive the crime."
So-called "notoriety laws" have to be
carefully crafted to ensure that they achieve their
goals without violating anyone's First Amendment rights,
Ward said. The pending bill, which is expected to reach
the floor of the House shortly after the Legislature's
break next week, avoids First Amendment conflicts by
seizing profits, Ward said.
An identical bill was sponsored in the
Senate by Majority Leader Zeb Little, D-Cullman.
The News reported in January that
Death Row inmates Jack Trawick and Daniel Siebert were
among dozens of convicted killers nationwide whose
sometimes grotesque artwork was being sold on several
Web sites.
Trawick is on death row for the 1992
abduction and murder of Stephanie Gach, 21. Siebert was
convicted of the 1986 strangulation of his girlfriend
and her two sons, ages 4 and 5.
The House bill is HB424, and the
Senate bill is SB282.
E-mail: sdiel@bhamnews.com On the Net
www.legislature.state.al.us
