# Earning Money on the Outside, When You're in Prison **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 5, 2009, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earning-money-on-the-outside-when-youre-in-prison/512666 "2009-10-05T14:26:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earning-money-on-the-outside-when-youre-in-prison/512666/1 "2009-10-05T14:26:47Z")
Let’s say I’m in prison for a non-violent crime (e.g., a drug offense), and thus I don’t owe any restitution to any victims. I have other sources of income besides a job; e.g., stock dividends, residuals from book sales, whatever. While I’m in prison, what happens to my earnings? Does the state confiscate it for room & board? Does it go to my prison comissary account? Does it just go into my regular, outside bank account & build up for me until I’m out? ---
**Author:** ![pan1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@pan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pan1)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earning-money-on-the-outside-when-youre-in-prison/512666/2 "2009-10-05T14:36:11Z")
Usually any money you make through interest/dividends stays yours and goes where it would go if you were not in prison. If your sentence included a fine, the gov’t could sieze your assets if you do not pay. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earning-money-on-the-outside-when-youre-in-prison/512666/3 "2009-10-05T14:41:35Z")
If you have significant assets, and your actions constitute a tort as well as a crime, then your victim(s) might sue you to collect damages. (But not every crime is a tort: for example, driving without a license and while intoxicated is not a tort unless you cause personal injury or property damage). ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2009, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earning-money-on-the-outside-when-youre-in-prison/512666/4 "2009-10-05T23:58:53Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > While I’m in prison, what happens to my earnings? Does the state confiscate it for room & board? Does it go to my prison comissary account? Does it just go into my regular, outside bank account & build up for me until I’m out? In my state, the state doesn’t charge prisoners room and board (although there have been some ideas floated out there to begin doing so). Generally speaking, before an inmate begins his term, if he has affairs to manage on the outside, he’ll give someone power of attorney so that the accounts, etc., can continue to be managed. Money can then be sent to him for use at the prison commissary, etc. But, no, the mere fact that one is incarcerated doesn’t enable to state to seize the inmate’s assets. By the way, although it’s outside what you’re asking, there are “prison consultants” who can be hired by a convicted person to assist with the transition to prison. In addition to handling the mundane (such as explaining how to handle money), they also provide coaching on how to handle yourself on the inside. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2009, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earning-money-on-the-outside-when-youre-in-prison/512666/5 "2009-10-06T01:33:36Z")
One interesting thing that is happening more and more is victim’s families are now suing the criminal in civil courts and then they get a judgement against them for any earnings. I read about Jeffrey Dahmer, he was getting a quarter a day (or some small figure like that), and normally inmates can use this wage to buy things like coffee and cigarettes. But his victims sued and attached his quarter a day so he got no money inside and had to have his father send him cigarettes. ---
**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:** [October 8, 2009, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earning-money-on-the-outside-when-youre-in-prison/512666/6 "2009-10-08T01:03:26Z")
In New York the only restriction on a prisoner having an outside income is that the income cannot be based on any crimes he committed. And I believe this includes any income he derives from being famous for his crimes. So you can’t collect royalties for writing a book about your crime or selling your autograph. But if you own stock or a business, you can collect income and receive it in prison if you want. ---
**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:** [October 8, 2009, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earning-money-on-the-outside-when-youre-in-prison/512666/7 "2009-10-08T02:36:12Z")
NY’s first “[Son of Sam](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_of_Sam_law)” law was overturned, and it now has a modified version in place which does allow for some earnings. > [@](#): > > In 1987, lawyers for publishing giant Simon & Schuster sued the New York authorities to prevent enforcement of the Son of Sam law with respect to a book they were about to publish called Wiseguy, written by Nicholas Pileggi. The book was about ex-mobster Henry Hill and was used as the basis for the film Goodfellas. The case reached the Supreme Court in 1991. In an 8-0 ruling, the court ruled the law unconstitutional. Simon & Schuster v. Crime Victims Board 502 U.S. 105 (1991). The majority opinion was that the law was overinclusive, and would have prevented the publication of such works as The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience, and even The Confessions of Saint Augustine. > > The Supreme Court ruling actually stated that Son of Sam laws could conceivably be constitutional, but only if written very carefully with regard to First Amendment concerns. Though this original New York law was struck down, various states (including New York) have laws to prevent felons from capitalizing on their crimes written with an eye towards adhering to the First Amendment ruling laid out by the Supreme Court. > > New York, after numerous revisions, adopted a law in 2001 again known as the “Son of Sam” law.[1] This law requires that victims of crimes be notified whenever a person convicted of a crime received $10,000 (US) or more—from virtually any source.[2] The law then attaches a springing statute of limitations, giving victims an extended period of time to sue the perpetrator of the crime in civil court for their crimes.[3] This law also authorizes a state agency, the Crime Victims’ Board, to act on the victims’ behalf in some limited circumstances.[4] Thus far, the current New York law has survived constitutional scrutiny. ---
**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:** [October 8, 2009, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earning-money-on-the-outside-when-youre-in-prison/512666/8 "2009-10-08T19:43:31Z")
Another NY precedent involved serial killer Arthur Shawcross. Shawcross is a painter and he was selling his paintings for large sums of money. They didn’t depict dead women so nobody could claim they were a direct product of his crimes. But it was felt that the notoriety of the artist was the reason most people were buying the paintings rather than any inherent quality of the art.