Restitution Discussion Group Archives
| Sender: |
Robert Chambers |
| Date: |
Mon, 24 Jul 2000 09:18:07 -0600 |
| Re: |
Profit from crime |
Canada's
National Post reported today (Monday, 24 July 2000, page A3) that the California
Supreme Court has been asked to declare that a California statute, which
prevents criminals from profiting from their crimes, is unconstitutional
because it infringes the right to free speech. The appellant is Barry Keenan,
who kidnapped Frank Sinatra Jr in 1961 and sold the rights to his story
to Columbia Pictures last year for $1.5M. The victim used the statute to
prevent Keenan from receiving the money. According to the article, 42 American
states have a similar law and the NY law was declared unconstitutional in
1991. The law does not prevent the criminal from giving her or his story
away. The issue is whether the inability to get paid for the story is a
deterrent to free speech.
Robert Chambers
University of Alberta
Faculty of Law
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