Bill to stop Alabama inmates convicted of capital murder from making money from works of art
Posted by Tom Gordon- Birmingham News
May 08, 2009 3:00 PM The Alabama Legislature has passed a bill that would stop inmates convicted of capital crimes from earning money from paintings, books or other works of art, and the ban would apply to any third parties who sell the items.
The items can be linked to the inmate's crimes or have no connection to them at all.
"This is a huge victory for crime victims and their families," said Sen. Zeb Little, D-Cullman, in a press release. "If inmates try to make money off their crimes or notoriety, we will take that money and give it to their victims. It is as simple as that. This money does not belong to rapists, murderers and thieves."
The measure was in response to reports that Alabama Death Row inmates, including convicted murderers Daniel Siebert and Jack Trawick, had done grotesque sketches of mutilated bodies or body parts that were for sale on the Internet. Trawick is scheduled to die June 11 for the 1992 abduction-murder of Stephanie Gach in Birmingham. Siebert, who was convicted of five Alabama strangulation murders, three involving women, died in 2008 after a battle with cancer.
State Rep. Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, the principal sponsor of the bill in the House, said he expected Gov. Bob Riley to sign the bill into law. Little sponsored the legislation in the Senate. Ward said the current legislative session, which ends next week, was the fourth consecutive session in which he had tried to pass the legislation.
About 32 states have laws that bar inmates from profiting from books or movies about their crimes. If Riley signs the Alabama bill into law, the state will be one of the few with a law that specifically mentions works of art, wording aimed at inmates such as Trawick.
"We tried basically to craft a law ... to come up with something that would not violate the First amendment but keep (an inmate) from making money like Jack Trawick or somebody, a third party from making money off of his stuff.," Ward said.
Ward said that under the bill, if someone is convicted of capital murder or another capital crime, they will face "an automatic restitution penalty and that restitution penalty grabs at anything that is sold that you created or made while you were ... incarcerated ... This bill would say that money that's made has to be paid to the victim's families."
The minimum restitution amount is $50,000, but a judge who presides in the case leading to the inmate's conviction can set it higher, Ward said.
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