MurderAuction.com is easily one of the creepiest websites I have ever visited. The site is a haven for collectors of "murderabilia" -- mementos related to the cases of famous criminals, including prison artwork like a sketch of Osama Bin Laden by Washington DC sniper Lee Boyd Malvo and the psychiatric evaluation of serial killer Ed Gein.

It's difficult for me, and probably most of our readers, to understand why anyone would want to own this stuff. Texas Senator John Cornyn has had enough, and has introduced legislation to put an end to this cottage industry. His law would make it illegal for state and federal prisoners to mail such items for the purpose of interstate commerce.

What's interesting is that prisoners are generally not allowed to run businesses behind bars anyway, and they generally don't profit from the sale of their artwork on sites like MurderAuction. Some inmates will send their work to followers who send them "fan mail" and then the work turns up online. But since the inmates aren't profiting and, in many cases aren't aware of the market for their work, it's hard to see how it qualifies as interstate commerce.

It's hard for me to understand why the government should play a role in this. It seems like a freedom of expression issue, and I don't see the point of using government resources to stop collectors from trading murderabilia online. If the prisoner if profiting, that's illegal anyway.

Of course, sites like eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) should, and do, ban the listing of murderabilia on their sites. But why should Uncle Sam stop collectors from trading artwork?

Continue reading Senator seeks to ban sale of "murderabilia"

Senator seeks to ban sale of "murderabilia" originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 24 Jun 2007 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.