18 May 2021: Can Cuomo's Pandemic Book Riches Be Blocked by NY's "Son of Sam" Law?

Janice Dean: I thought Cuomo's book deal was a joke, profiting off deaths of New Yorkers is 'disgusting'

Appearing on her network, Fox News meteorologist Janice Dean opened an interesting possibility of applying New York's "Son of Sam" law, which is aimed at blocking criminals from enriching themselves because of their illicit notoriety, to the proceeds Governor Cuomo has and will receive from his pandemic "leadership" book.

JANICE DEAN: When I first read that the governor was writing a book in the middle of the pandemic, I thought it was a joke. I thought it was a headline in the Babylon Bee or The Onion. How could the governor write a book about leadership when thousands of elderly were dying? It was incredible. And I was mad at the time, but seeing that he got over $5 million for this, profiting off the deaths of New Yorkers, including my in-laws, it's disgusting....

I think the book publishing company can sue him for breach of contract because it's filled with lies. And if you look at the timeline, the governor covering up the nursing home issue, the tragedy, over 15,000 deaths that him and his administration tried to cover up for months. The timeline corresponds with him trying to sell that $5 million book. So I wonder if we can profit off the Son of Sam law. All of that money should go to the families of our dead loved ones.

Here's some background on New York Executive Law Section 632a, a.k.a. the "Son of Sam" law:

New York Executive Law Section 632a, commonly known as the “Son of Sam” law, was hastily enacted in 1977 after serial killer David Berkowitz, also known as the “Son of Sam,” sold his exclusive story rights.

The purpose of the law was to “prevent those accused or convicted of a crime from profiting from the commercial exploitation of their crimes by contracting for the production of books, movies, magazine articles, television shows and the like in which their crime is reenacted” or in which the “person’s thoughts, feelings, opinions or emotions” about the crime are expressed.

The law required that any profits obtained from works describing a crime be withheld and made available to the victims. All monies received would be paid to the New York Crime Victims Board and held in escrow for five years. To claim the funds, the victim would have to obtain a civil money judgment against the criminal within this period.

The law ran into constitutional barriers in the 1990s, where New York went from 2001 until 2020 without any attempt to claw back the proceeds from criminal activity. With that being the case, we don't think it's likely it will be applied to Governor Cuomo's situation, where judgments against Governor Cuomo in both criminal and civil court would be needed to pry the pandemic "leadership" book proceeds from his and his family's possession.