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| NC DOC Reaches Settlement with ACLU |
| By lexology.com |
| Published: 04/23/2010 |
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Pursuant to the terms of a recent settlement between the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina Legal Foundation (ACLU-NCLF) and the N.C. Department of Correction (DOC), prison inmates in North Carolina may now write novels and other manuscripts and send them to publishers, even if those written materials portray criminal activity. The ACLU-NCLF reported the settlement in a press release. The ACLU-NCLF had filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Victor L. Martin, a habitual felon with several theft-related convictions and whose “urban fiction” authored while in prison features gangsters, hustlers, drugs, and raw language. The terms of the settlement require the DOC to adopt a policy that allows inmates to prepare a manuscript for publication, for outside typing, and for copyrighting. The policy protects fiction, nonfiction, poetry, music, and drawings. An inmate may not receive direct compensation for publication of the manuscript but may receive compensation indirectly by authorizing a family member to handle all correspondence related to the business aspect of publishing for compensation. The issues raised by this lawsuit are similar to those surrounding “Son of Sam” laws. Son of Sam laws are designed to prevent criminals from profiting from their crimes through contracts relating to a depiction of their crimes in a movie, book, or other publication or production. The New York Legislature passed the very first Son of Sam law in 1977 in response to reports that a killer who called himself Son of Sam – later identified as David R. Berkowitz, the man whose murder spree terrorized New York City in 1977 – was being offered large sums from publishers and film producers for the rights to his story. Read More. |
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