Taking “upskirt” photos in the state of Massachusetts is now illegal. Legislation banning the invasive photography was adopted Friday, just two days after a judge found that such behavior did not violate state law. Massachusetts is the most recent state to address the issue; other states including Nebraska and New Jersey are considering similar legislation, as they discover similar loopholes in their own laws.
New Massachusetts Law Bans Certain “Sexual Surveillance”
Last Wednesday, Justice Margot Botsford of the state Supreme Judicial Court ruled that taking photos up a woman’s skirt in public did not violate the state’s “Peeping Tom” laws. Reacting quickly to the judgment, Bill H.3932 (“An Act relative to unlawful sexual surveillance”) was drafted and passed the Senate in a unanimous vote of 39-0 on Thursday. It was then signed into law by Massachusetts State Governor Deval Patrick.
Now someone caught photographing the “sexual or other intimate parts” of someone else without their permission in Massachusetts can be arrested. The crime is a misdemeanor if the person being photographed is over 18, with a maximum penalty of 2½ years in jail and a $5,000 fine. It becomes a felony if the person being photographed is under 18, with a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Distributing those photographs could be punished with 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
The Law Comes Two Days After Court Ruling
The judgment last Wednesday overturned a lower court’s ruling that Michael Robertson, arrested in 2010 for taking “upskirt” photos of women on public transportation with his cell phone, was guilty of breaking the law. Justice Botsford determined that existing laws did not make Robertson’s actions illegal. “Peeping Tom” laws apply to people who are nude or partially nude, not fully clothed, as the women Robertson photographed were. Furthermore, while people have expectations of privacy in a dressing room or somewhere similar, there are no such expectations of privacy in a public place like the trolley or subway.
The quick action of the state legislature sought to make the behavior illegal, and, in the words of House Speaker Robert DeLeo, “to bring Massachusetts laws up-to-date with technology.”
