Artwork from serial killers. Dirt from a murder victims grave. A killers autographed photo. Morbid as it is these are just a few examples of the tasteless items connected with violent crime scenes that have gone on sale as part of what is called the murderabilia market. And two senators want to put a stop to it.
Artwork from serial killers. Dirt from a murder victims grave. A killers autographed photo.
Morbid as it is these are just a few examples of the tasteless items connected with violent crime scenes that have gone on sale as part of what is called the murderabilia market. And two senators want to put a stop to it.
Sen. John Cornyn R-Texas and Sen. Amy Klobuchar D-Minn. have teamed up to introduce a bill in Congress that would outlaw what most people view as a disgusting industry.
Im of the opinion you just shouldnt be able to rob rape and murder and be able to turn around and make a profit off it Andy Kahan director of the Houston mayors Crime Victims Office told Fox News.
Though few would argue with that statement the niche market of murderabilia has been thriving doing just that. A murderabilia website was recently found to be selling a patch of the three miles of road on which James Byrd Jr. was dragged to death in Jasper Texas by white supremacists 12 years ago. Plus it was selling dirt from his grave. Byrds death is credited with spurring state-level hate crime laws in Texas as well as the federal hate crimes law. For those family members Kahan said Its like being gutted all over again by our criminal justice system.
Byrds sister Louvon Harris and Houston Mayor Annise Parker joined Cornyn for a recent press conference introducing the bill.
Klobuchar told Fox News The bigger crime here is not necessarily any money they bring in but the hurt that they cause for the victims or their families.
The bill is called the Stop the Sale of Murderabilia to Protect the Dignity of Crime Victims Act of 2010 and comes after several individual fights over the issue.
Auction site eBay no longer sells murderabilia after a protracted battle with Kahan but according to his count at least six websites turn a profit selling notorious serial killers and murderers letters artwork ... even some of the most mundane objects that one can imagine including their hair fingernails and clothing -- anything that one can attach to their name using recognition that they achieved from committing some of the most diabolical crimes.
Klobuchar who defended victims for eight years as a prosecutor told Fox News that third parties were hocking the Minnesota-based want-ad murderers autographed photos and Christmas cards.
If the bill passes however prisoners wont be able to mail out anything that can be sold in interstate commerce and family members of victims will be allowed to seek injunctions damages and reasonable attorneys fees from murderabilia profiteers.
If youre surprised that there wasnt already a law keeping criminals from making money off their crimes youre in good company.
Steeped in the cause of protecting victims even Kahan believed that so-called Son of Sam laws named after serial killer David Berkowitz existed. However the Supreme Court has treated the sale of murderabilia as a free speech issue and has struck down those laws.
A famous case involved the story of the Dec. 8 1963 casino kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr. the son of the late entertainer. Columbia Pictures offered the kidnappers Barry Keenan Joseph Amsler and John Irwin upwards of $750000 for the rights to their story. Frank Sinatra Jr. sued the trio in 1998 under Californias version of a Son of Sam law. But Californias Supreme Court sided with the kidnappers.
The FTC has also failed to curb what Kahan said amounts to blood money. And no matter how much Kahan would like to enforce a law across state lines he cant. Its a federal matter.Thats what compelled the Houston crime fighter to take his cause up to the federal level reaching out to his local senator Cornyn.
Its a (product) of a sick mind the Texas Republican told Fox News recently adding it doesnt allow victims families to get the closure they deserve.
Klobuchar echoed her co-sponsors point saying What the victims want to do is put this behind them. They want to know that the person who killed their loved one is getting their just desserts instead of their just profits.
It was Cornyn who first pushed the Stop the Sale of Murderabilia to Protect the Dignity of Crime Victims Act of 2007. The Texas senator was incensed that killers could sell their knickknacks while incarcerated.
Like many bills however the 2007 version got lost in the shuffle. Stop the Sale of Murderabilia to Protect the Dignity of Crime Victims Act of 2010 is a virtual clone of the previously attempted legislation but with Klobuchars backing the senators hope that this bill can pass -- even unanimously.
Right now the Senate has its hands full concentrating on the BP oil spill and possibly tackling climate change legislation and illegal immigration.
Of course theres bigger issues than this one Klobuchar said. Still she said It doesnt mean you just shrug your shoulders and say Killers should be able to put their stuff on a website.
Kahan who hopes the bill passes acknowledged that getting rid of all the third party sellers is kinda like exterminating cockroaches.
The bill aimed at crippling the small market for those who idolize the worst of the worst is only the first step though according to Kahan. The media needs to drop its obsession with profiling them.
Everybody in the room knows who John Wayne Gacy Ted Bundy Jeffrey Dahmer and David Berkowitz are but Ill bet my bottom dollar no one can name any of their victims. And thats the sad reality that we find (ourselves) in he said.
