# Can people in prison have their writing published? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 5, 2016, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-in-prison-have-their-writing-published/759150 "2016-07-05T18:53:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2016, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-in-prison-have-their-writing-published/759150/21 "2016-07-05T23:23:30Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Interesting. I was under the impression that there was some kind of general law (the Son of Sam law that **slash2k** mentions) that prisoners could not profit from their crimes i.e. Manson could not be paid for a book specifically about his murders. Apparently I was mistaken. Now, the next question is should such a law exist… There _are_ Son of Sam laws in several states, but they have to be written very narrowly to avoid First Amendment problems. (The original one, in New York, was struck down, and they wrote a narrower version later.) There’s no restriction against prisoners publishing stuff that’s unrelated to their crimes. And they can still publish things related to their crimes, but they may not be able to be compensated for it. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2016, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-in-prison-have-their-writing-published/759150/22 "2016-07-05T23:28:30Z")
Aha, found it > **[Court Says Free Speech Rights For Prisoners Not 'Clearly Established,' Gives...](https://www.techdirt.com/2016/06/16/court-says-free-speech-rights-prisoners-not-clearly-established-gives-pass-to-retaliatory-actions-officials/)** > > 2nd-Cir-Mcgowan (PDF) 2nd-Cir-Mcgowan (Text) > [@](#): > > McGowan alleges that, shortly after his article appeared online, defendant Tracy Rivers, the Residential Reentry Manager at the New York Residential Reentry Management Office of the Bureau of Prisons (“BOP”), determined that he should be issued an incident report and remanded to a federal detention center. The incident report stated that McGowan had violated “BOP Program Statement no. 1480.05 dated September 21, 2000; 540.62 page 5, section (d),” which provided that “an inmate currently confined in an institution may not be employed or act as a reporter or publish under a byline” (the “Byline Regulation”). > > The problem with citing this guideline is that the Bureau of Prisons had rescinded it in 2010, (belatedly) following a 2007 Colorado district court decision finding the regulation unconstitutional. Unfortunately for McGowan, despite the regulation being nonexistent when it was used to put him in solitary confinement, the appeals court has found that there’s no Second Circuit precedent clearly asserting First Amendment protections for federal prisoners. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2016, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-in-prison-have-their-writing-published/759150/23 "2016-07-05T23:34:25Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Interesting. I was under the impression that there was some kind of general law (the Son of Sam law that **slash2k** mentions) that prisoners could not profit from their crimes i.e. Manson could not be paid for a book specifically about his murders. Apparently I was mistaken. Now, the next question is should such a law exist… That’s a different issue. Manson was sued in civil court by the families of his victims and they won a large financial judgement against him. But Manson didn’t pay the judgement because he didn’t have the money. However, the existence of the judgement made it possible for the family to claim any money Manson earned in the future. Manson never wrote a book but he did get some royalties from music he had written and the families were able to take this. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-in-prison-have-their-writing-published/759150/24 "2016-07-06T00:02:23Z")
famous MLK Jr letter from jail: [Letter from Birmingham Jail - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_from_Birmingham_Jail) ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-in-prison-have-their-writing-published/759150/25 "2016-07-06T00:14:42Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > famous MLK Jr letter from jail: > > [Letter from Birmingham Jail - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_from_Birmingham_Jail) But - the wiki article reads like he had to write and secretly pass his writings to his lawyers to get the text out of the jail. This is not surprising considering the circumstances of his arrest and the tenor of the times, and the fierce urgency of his message. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-in-prison-have-their-writing-published/759150/26 "2016-07-06T00:18:17Z")
Sir Thomas Malory wrote Le Morte d’Arthur in prison, and John Bunyan started The Pilgrim’s Progress in prison. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-in-prison-have-their-writing-published/759150/27 "2016-07-06T03:23:05Z")
From an Aussie point of view it would be remiss not to mention [Chopper Read](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_%22Chopper%22_Read). ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-in-prison-have-their-writing-published/759150/28 "2016-07-06T09:21:38Z")
Here are a few webpages about things written in prison: > **[Prison literature](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prison_literature)** > > Prison literature is a literary genre characterized by literature that is written while the author is confined in a location against his or her will, such as a prison, jail or house arrest. The literature can be about prison, informed by it, or simply coincidentally written while in prison. It could be a memoir, nonfiction, or fiction. > Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy (524 AD) has been described as "by far the most interesting example of prison literature the world has ever seen." > Marco Pol... > **[Category:Prison writings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Prison_writings)** > > This category has the following 5 subcategories, out of 5 total. > The following 70 pages are in this category, out of 70 total. This list may not reflect recent changes. > **[30 Literary Works Written in Prison](https://www.criminaljusticedegreehub.com/literary-works-penned-in-prison/)** > > This is 30 Literary Works Written in Prison. if you would like to learn more about the amazing works of art done by inmates follow along. > **[Ten of the best books written in prison](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/sep/19/books-written-in-prison)** > > From Le Morte d'Arthur to A Hymn to the Pillory And a webpage about other things done in prison: > **[5 People Who Changed the World From Inside of Prison](https://www.cracked.com/article_18422_5-people-who-changed-world-from-inside-prison.html)** > > While avoiding some angry male on male action and daily shankings, these guys influenced the course of history. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-in-prison-have-their-writing-published/759150/29 "2016-07-06T14:21:18Z")
Where no laws exists to prevent a convict from profiting from a book about his crime … the presiding judge can impose this restriction on the convict. I see from above this has been challenged on constitutional grounds but I’m not sure how well that would fly. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-in-prison-have-their-writing-published/759150/30 "2016-07-06T14:29:33Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Interesting. I was under the impression that there was some kind of general law (the Son of Sam law that **slash2k** mentions) that prisoners could not profit from their crimes i.e. Manson could not be paid for a book specifically about his murders. Apparently I was mistaken. Now, the next question is should such a law exist… There are some state laws, yes, but not blanket federal law. And they only restrict earnings from the writing, not the writing or publishing itself. I think it makes sense to have such a law to prevent people from profiting from crime. Weirdest and most awful case of criminal authorship and profit from it: [“If I Did It” by OJ Simpson.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_I_Did_It) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-in-prison-have-their-writing-published/759150/31 "2016-07-06T14:45:21Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > Weirdest and most awful case of criminal authorship and profit from it: [“If I Did It” by OJ Simpson.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_I_Did_It) Simpson lost a civil trial but was acquitted at his criminal trial. There was no criminal authorship whatsoever involved. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-in-prison-have-their-writing-published/759150/32 "2016-07-06T14:53:46Z")
Note that Simpson didn’t write _If I Did It_ in prison or anyplace else. A ghostwriter, Pablo Fenjves, wrote it (apparently) before Simpson was even consulted about the book. Fenjves was a screenwriter/ghostwriter who was a neighbor of Simpson and who testified at the criminal trial about one fact. It’s not clear if Fenjves or the publisher, ReganBooks, originally came up with the idea of him writing the book, but Simpson (apparently) had nothing to do with it. He just agreed, after the book had been written and before it was published, to put his name on it for a payment of $600,000: > **[Pablo Fenjves](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Fenjves)** > > Pablo F. Fenjves (/ˈfɛnvɪs/; (1953-08-16)16 August 1953) is an American screenwriter and ghostwriter based in Los Angeles, California. His screenwriting credits include the 1995 film The Affair, Man on a Ledge, released in January 2012, and a string of television movies. Fenjves ghostwrote the book If I Did It, an account of the O. J. Simpson murder case. > Born in Caracas, Venezuela, on 16 August 1953, to Hungarian survivors of The Holocaust, Fenjves went to college in Illinois. His first journ... ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-in-prison-have-their-writing-published/759150/33 "2016-07-06T15:08:20Z")
Obviously, varies by state. In Vermont, people in prison can even vote. I seem to recall that in some cases, the court has the power to specify in sentencing that the convicted person may not have personal financial gain from the publication of anything related to the crime. But I can’t think of any keywords that would point to a cite. My father in law wrote his first of several dozen novels while in prison, but I don’t know if he published them and received royalties from them while still incarcerated. Some of his titles now sell on Amazon for over $100. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-in-prison-have-their-writing-published/759150/34 "2016-07-06T15:49:57Z")
> [@lance\_strongarm](#): > > Weirdest and most awful case of criminal authorship and profit from it: [“If I Did It” by OJ Simpson.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_I_Did_It) The same thing happened here as happened in the Manson case. The profits from the book were given to the Goldman family as part of a previous civil judgement against Simpson. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-in-prison-have-their-writing-published/759150/35 "2016-07-06T15:55:00Z")
> [@watchwolf49](#): > > Where no laws exists to prevent a convict from profiting from a book about his crime … the presiding judge can impose this restriction on the convict. I see from above this has been challenged on constitutional grounds but I’m not sure how well that would fly. I don’t think it would fly at all. Judges can’t simply invent their own sentences. The sentences they can impose are defined by laws. You might sometimes hear about a judge giving an eccentric sentence but I think in all these cases you’d find the defendant was facing a much harsher normal sentence and therefore voluntarily agreed to comply with some unusual alternative. ---
**Author:** ![skdo23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-in-prison-have-their-writing-published/759150/36 "2016-07-06T17:01:50Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Congrats. I didn’t you know you were an MD of the research-paper ilk. > > Topic? [This guy is a rock star!](http://www.businessinsider.com/what-its-like-to-be-a-doctor-in-prison-2013-3) ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-in-prison-have-their-writing-published/759150/37 "2016-07-06T17:18:33Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Simpson lost a civil trial but was acquitted at his criminal trial. There was no criminal authorship whatsoever involved. I meant that he “wrote” this from prison. True, it was for an unrelated crime. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-in-prison-have-their-writing-published/759150/38 "2016-07-06T17:20:49Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The same thing happened here as happened in the Manson case. The profits from the book were given to the Goldman family as part of a previous civil judgement against Simpson. Didn’t know that about Manson. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-in-prison-have-their-writing-published/759150/39 "2016-07-06T17:22:51Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Note that Simpson didn’t write _If I Did It_ in prison or anyplace else. A ghostwriter, Pablo Fenjves, wrote it (apparently) before Simpson was even consulted about the book. Fenjves was a screenwriter/ghostwriter who was a neighbor of Simpson and who testified at the criminal trial about one fact. It’s not clear if Fenjves or the publisher, ReganBooks, originally came up with the idea of him writing the book, but Simpson (apparently) had nothing to do with it. He just agreed, after the book had been written and before it was published, to put his name on it for a payment of $600,000: > > [Pablo Fenjves - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Fenjves) Well, yeah, I saw that, and that’s possible, but it’s possible that it’s Simpson’s way of keeping his distance and maintaining plausible deniability. We can’t know for sure that he had something to do with the book, though, so it should all be read with a grain of salt. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-in-prison-have-their-writing-published/759150/40 "2016-07-06T17:38:39Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I don’t think it would fly at all. Judges can’t simply invent their own sentences. The sentences they can impose are defined by laws. > > You might sometimes hear about a judge giving an eccentric sentence but I think in all these cases you’d find the defendant was facing a much harsher normal sentence and therefore voluntarily agreed to comply with some unusual alternative. Yes, that makes complete sense, thanx for adding this. +=+=+ The Goldman family is receiving the royalties from Chucky Manson’s book ??? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-in-prison-have-their-writing-published/759150.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-people-in-prison-have-their-writing-published/759150.md?page=3)