David Berkowitz, otherwise known as the Son of Sam, was arguably New York’s most notorious serial killer. Berkowitz was a postal employee who murdered six people in the late 1970’s with his .44 caliber handgun. After being caught through a parking ticket and sentenced to 365 years in prison, he made considerable profit from selling the story of his crimes. In 1977, New York State passed a law prohibiting criminals from profiting off of the publicity of their crimes, commonly nicknamed the Son of Sam laws. In the United States of America, 42 states have adopted similar laws to New York’s. Canada, however much of a progressive country it is made out to be, has no nationwide laws that outlaw criminals from collecting profit on the commercialization of their crimes, whether it be books, movies, interviews, or any other form of media. Currently, there are only five Canadian provinces that have laws around this topic, with many …show more content…
Canada currently only has laws in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Nova Scotia regarding this topic, but they are notably ineffective. It should be taken a step further in Canada and be part of our legislature that criminals cannot only be unable to receive funds from the sale of their crimes, but they should be prohibited from even publishing them. Even if only the Son of Sam laws were passed by the Canadian Senate, it would be a benefit to the citizens of Canada, as the crown could seize the royalties and copyright to any work that describes a criminal act written by the person convicted of that crime. The crown could then give compensation to the victim or their next of kin. Either of these proposed laws would reinforce the fundamental value that crime does not pay. Though these laws may be seen as an infringement on freedom of speech rights, it is currently only a detriment to the moral fabric of Canadian society that a criminal, whether it be a petty thief or a macabre serial killer, has the option to profit from their