Slashdot Mirror
Massachusetts Court Says 'Upskirt' Photos Are Legal
cold fjord writes with this CNN report: "Massachusetts' highest court ruled Wednesday that it is not illegal to secretly photograph underneath a person's clothing — a practice known as "upskirting" — prompting one prosecutor to call for a revision of state law. The high court ruled that the practice did not violate the law because the women who were photographed while riding Boston public transportation were not nude or partially nude."
BRB got some photography to do.
The reaction to this will dwarf the reaction to all that NSA business. This is the pointless stuff that Americans really like to fight over.
"A female passenger on a MBTA trolley who is wearing a skirt, dress, or the like covering these parts of her body is not a person who is 'partially nude,' no matter what is or is not underneath the skirt by way of underwear or other clothing,"
Police soon noted an uprise in kilt-wearing flashers~
Obviously, I imagine an upskirt picture does not reveal any more than what you would see at a beach in any western country. I think the issue is that, a person being made to reveal more of herself than she is consenting to, to a person she does not know, and usually without her knowledge. It would be the equivalent of someone being forced to take off her skirt in public without her consent.
Also, what if the woman is not wearing any underwear? It is her business if she is, or is not, and by wearing a skirt she has a reasonable right to privacy in that matter.
- Tempestdata
Well if it really isn't actually illegal except at the subjective assessment of a particular judge, then isn't the ruling correct, and the change of law an appropriate next step? Better to utterly stamp this thing out than leave any room in the law for weaselling.
Myu:
The judges simple pointed out that under current law taking these pictures is legal. That is their job. What is needed is for the appropriate laws to be rewritten.
Just because you are paranoid does not mean that no-one is out to get you.
Dateline: 3/56/2014 5:24PM
The Massachusetts Legislature just passed a revision to the law which has now been sent to the Governor for his signature.
http://www.wcvb.com/news/upskirting-bill-passes-moves-on-to-governors-desk/24845520
It's time to remove these judges.
Nonsense. A judge's job is to interpret the existing law, not make stuff up to conform to what the law should be. If anyone should be removed, it is the state legislators, and it is the voters' job to remove them.
No, It's time to put GoPro's on my shoes and head to Boston!
In C++, your friends can see your privates.
They didn't rule that taking the photos was legal (i.e. you have a right to do it which cannot be abridged); they ruled it wasn't illegal (i.e. the legislature hasn't banned it even though it's within their power to do so).
This is a good thing for anybody who believes in the rule of law. Laws should be written to clearly put those governed on notice as to what behavior is prohibited. Pervy or not, if the photographer was within the actual letter of the law, he shouldn't be be held criminally liable for doing something which was not prohibited. The solution is not to "interpret" the law to extend beyond its text; the solution is to fix the bad law.
If laws can be "interpreted" to go beyond their plain meanings, then it becomes difficult for those subject to them to figure out what is prohibited. Not only is it patently unfair to hold someone accountable for an action that wasn't listed as prohibited, there is a strong constitutional precedent for holding it "void for vagueness." See, e.g., Connally v. General Construction Co., 269 U.S. 385, 391 (1926):
[T]he terms of a penal statute [...] must be sufficiently explicit to inform those who are subject to it what conduct on their part will render them liable to its penalties and a statute which either forbids or requires the doing of an act in terms so vague that men of common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning and differ as to its application violates the first essential of due process of law.
"Make it ten--I am only a poor corrupt official."
--Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains), Casablanca
....charged with two counts of attempting to secretly photograph a person in a state of partial nudity.
....state law "does not apply to photographing (or videotaping or electronically surveilling) persons who are fully clothed and, in particular, does not reach the type of upskirting that the defendant is charged with attempting to accomplish on the MBTA."
While your argument is that it should be cut and dry illegal; the reality is: this specific law does not make it illegal. It has nothing to do with the judge, and everything to do with the way the law is written. The judge doesn't need to be removed, the law needs to be better written considering current technology.
Fascism: An authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization. See also: NAZI's
This is the opposite situation. You're asking people to punish someone for something that is not (yet) illegal. The person that should be punished is the politicians for writing bad laws.
Just to emphasize your point: the judge in this case is not trying to let the accused off the hook: he/she is pointing out a hole in Massachusetts law.
I'm totally not a lawyer, but I live in Massachusetts and spent some time reading the law today so that makes me an expert. As far as I can tell, upskirt doesn't fall within any of the following Mass sexual crimes:
Rape: Rape in Mass requires penetration.
Indecent assault and battery: Requires physical contact.
Sexual harassment: is specific to the workplace.
Peeping tom: requires that the victim be partly undressed.
Criminal harassment: must be repeated on three occasions.
Unnatural and lascivious acts: applies to sexual acts in public.
It really does seem to me that as far as criminal law goes, upskirting really does fall between the cracks of Massachusetts law.
Maybe they have cameras in their shoes...
. . . please don't give Google any more ideas about where to mount their glasses . . .
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
Agreed. A judge isn't supposed to decide what's right or wrong, but rather what's legal or illegal. Judges are just supposed to interpret the laws as written. If there's no law against something, then a judge has no recourse but to deem that thing legal. Even if any rational person would find it in poor taste.
It's then the job of Congress (aka the legislators, aka the law makers) to make a law that rectifies the issue. So expect results sometime between now and Judgement Day. Unless, of course, some senator (or senator's daughter) gets some upskirt pictures taken. Once lawmakers actually feel the effects, the law will be passed so quickly, it might just be signatures on the back of a napkin.
This signature is false.
That's because it isn't actually their job to do that. They arrogated that power to themselves.
The actual power given to them by the constitution is the usual judicial power. Or in other words: guilty, not guilty, adjudication withheld, case dismissed, etc. They have original jurisdiction in cases that involve the states, ambassadors and so forth. Nowhere does the constitution say or imply they can declare a law unconstitutional. That is done by the constitution itself. That's the whole damned point of it.
The consequence of allowing these judges to determine constitutionality has been (just to mention a few) inversion of the commerce clause, violations of almost the entire bill of rights, usurpation of states rights by the feds, and more.
The constitution is written in plain English. If it proves insufficient to the cause, it can be amended. The very first amendment it ought to have is the holding of legislators accountable when they make laws that the constitution rules out. In the vast majority of cases, that's bloody obvious. For instance, "shall make no law" is crystal clear. So what does congress do? They make laws in that very area anyway. And the justices? They uphold these laws. It's no wonder the legal system is such a wreck. They aren't traitors; they're just criminals.
people can wear skirts all they like, and choose how much or little they want to expose of themselves in public. if you re concerned about some out of focus dark weird angle shot of your panties, i'd suggest not wearing a skirt.
A judge's job is to interpret the existing law, not make stuff up to conform to what the law should be....
I agree with that.
... that makes the legislature which write the laws .... OMG, PROGRAMERS! They're one of us!!
So judges are effectively a CPU, simply executing what's written. (GOTO but not DWIW.)
But then
If the universe is someone's simulation -- does that mean the stars are just stuck pixels?
I'm sure it's actually still illegal. What it's not, according to the actual case, is on the wrong side of the "anti-peeping tom" law. I'm guessing the prosecutor fucked up, tried to go for a charge with a bigger sentence, and couldn't make it stick.
people can wear skirts all they like, and choose how much or little they want to expose of themselves in public. if you re concerned about some out of focus dark weird angle shot of your panties, i'd suggest not wearing a skirt.
Yes, but don't we want to encourage the wearing of skirts? It's practically the only bright spot about taking public transportation.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
The actual power given to them by the constitution is the usual judicial power. Or in other words: guilty, not guilty, adjudication withheld, case dismissed, etc. They have original jurisdiction in cases that involve the states, ambassadors and so forth. Nowhere does the constitution say or imply they can declare a law unconstitutional. That is done by the constitution itself. That's the whole damned point of it.
You need to really read Marbury v. Madison (1803). The Court really lays out the reason why they have to. The judges must hold every law up to the standards of the Constitution, if they do not judge the Constitutionality of laws, then the Constitution has no meaning, because Congress can pass any law they feel like, and there is no one else who can say, "Hey, I don't think that law is actually legal."
Without anyone to actually enforce the Constitution, it's a meaningless piece of paper.
The constitution is written in plain English.
That's actually, in many ways, the problem. If the Constitution were written out in far more formal language, there would be less wiggle room and thus less need for interpretation.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
Some here seem to think that the only types of skirts around are the ones that are so short that barely anything is hidden. Skirts come in different lengths. Perhaps the woman thought she was covered up and the skirt hiked itself up in just the right way so that something was visible. Perhaps the pervert just used shoe cameras, pretended to be stooping on the ground to tie his shoes, or some other ploy to take photos up women's skirts. The women obviously didn't consent to this so he shouldn't be allowed to do this.
Don't get me wrong. I understand that you don't get to walk around outside and then claim people taking your photograph are invading your privacy. There's no reasonable expectation of privacy when you are walking outside, but there are limits to that. Everyone has a reasonable expectation of privacy under their clothes. A woman wearing a skirt is not an invitation to take a photo up the skirt any more than a man wearing shorts is an invitation to take a photo up the shorts leg.
My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
Wait. This actually makes sense. Only instead of coding perfectly legible code, legislators are the kind of coders that craft spaghetti code which has tons of bugs, unforeseen glitches, hidden functions to give their friends back doors through the system, and which can't be read by another human being without them going cross-eyed.
My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.