DETROIT, July 13 (UPI) -- A lawyer for former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick has challenged a Michigan law that bars criminals from earning money by writing about their crimes.
In his appeal filed Monday, Daniel Hajji said the law violates the First Amendment because it penalizes literary production based on content, the Detroit Free Press reported. Wayne County Circuit Judge David Groner ordered that any income Kilpatrick receives from "Surrendered: The Rise, Fall and Revelation of Kwame Kilpatrick" should go to the $1 million in restitution he owes the city of Detroit.
Hajji cited U.S. Supreme Court decision on other state laws, the Detroit News said. Most of the laws date from the 1970s and were passed out of fear that criminals like serial killer David Berkowitz, the "Son of Sam," could get rich by selling their stories.
"Although payment of restitution to crime victims and preventing criminals from profiting from their crimes have been identified as compelling state interest behind such statutes, the statutes have universally failed strict scrutiny analysis," he said.
Kilpatrick is currently serving a state sentence for violation of probation and faces federal corruption charges.
