If they publish it

The saga of O.J. Simpson's hypothetical confession, or whatever "If I Did It" is supposed to be, gets stranger and stranger. Last fall, scandalmongering editor Judith Regan lost her job and her imprint at HarperCollins over the book, after her plan to publish it caused a storm of outrage. The family of Ron Goldman, who was killed with Nicole Brown Simpson in 1994, the crime for which Simpson was tried and acquitted, sued for control of the rights to the book. They had won a $33.5 million wrongful death suit against Simpson, and successfully argued that they had a right to any profits from the book. Last month, a federal judge in Florida ratified a settlement whereby the family would receive the rights.

The assumption on the part of some was that the family wanted the rights to guarantee that the book would never see the light of day, along with preventing Simpson from profiting from the account. But now it seems they want to publish the book and make money on it, to satisfy the unpaid judgment. Publishers Weekly online reports today that a Los Angeles agent, Sharlene Martin, has been hired by the family to shop the book. Martin said any profits would go to the Ronald Goldman Foundation for Justice.

I can see the logic here -- at least, I think I can. If money is to be made on this project, it should go to in some way undo the damage of the murders. And yet, the money isn't being paid by anyone guilty of the crime. It isn't a fine. It's a business proposition, an entertainment property, that the bookbuying public will pay for out of morbid curiosity. The book is said to contain scenes of graphic violence. It seems weird to me that the Goldman family would now be pushing the book that they originally said was a loathsome exploitation of their son's murder.