Secretly snapping pix up a woman's skirt A-OK in Georgia

Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/07/22/secretly-snapping-pix-up-a-wom.html

I wonder what the wording is on the battery laws in GA. The exact wording…

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Of all the myriad genres of porn, I can’t think of one more boring.

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There are serious issues with writing a law that criminalizes this kind of privacy invasion, but doesn’t go way too far. The wrong wording could make taking photos at, say, a figure skating event illegal (“Was the area normally covered by a skirt? Yes. Did you take a photo of that area? Yes. You’re guilty.” “But skirts always ride up at a figure skating events, and the skaters wear leotards so that nothing is visible!” “Sorry, can’t help you. The law is what it is.”)

I’m not saying that we shouldn’t try to make this kind of disgusting behaviour illegal, only that it’s a lot more difficult than this article seems to imply to outlaw it.

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There are usually qualifiers in those kinds of laws specifying reasonable expectation of privacy. For example, a court could rule that it’s not reasonable for a woman in a public place to assume she’ll never be recorded on security video, but it is perfectly reasonable to assume that she won’t be subjected to an upskirt cam.

The figure skating example wouldn’t apply in this scenario, because anyone doing a figure skating routine in public could reasonably expect that spectators’ cameras would capture everything on display.

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/runs to Georgia, puts on skirt, takes Greatest Selfie Ever

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No true Scotsman

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Is punching people in the face who taking upskirt pics of you ok?

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He said skirt, not a kilt.

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Article in the paper this morning about a MD cop who was charged with taking upskirt pictures of women he pulled over. That law “visual surveillance with prurient interest” specifies “the private area of an individual by use of a camera without the consent of the individual under circumstances in which a reasonable person would believe that the private area of the individual would not be visible to the public, regardless of whether the individual is in a public or private place.” That seems to be better wording.

http://law.justia.com/codes/maryland/2010/criminal-law/title-3/subtitle-9/3-902

So the Georgia legislators could just copy the law already on the books in MD.

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Showing the results in this article is apparently A-OK too. WTH?

Well that’s why he’s nae a true Scotsman.

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I’m not saying it’s impossible to outlaw it, but at least one law written to prevent this kind of thing has been thrown out due to being overly broad:

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I’m wearing a “kilt” right now.

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upskirts are for amateurs, it takes a real pro to get an up pants, especially with skinny jeans. \s

(i seriously don’t get this fetish, but with the internet i long ago gave up trying to understand other people’s proclivities, rule 36 and all.)

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The accompanying photo isn’t a secret upskirt shot. It’s a self-portrait publicly shared on someone’s Flickr stream and properly attributed at the bottom of the post. You can see the whole series on her page if you’re so inclined.

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Look, there’s enough sexism here already without throwing terms like “broad” around.

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Only if you take a picture of it.

Why would Georgia make it illegal to take upskirt photos in Maryland?

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I mean sure as long as pummeling said individual is A ok too.

how the elephant got into my pajamas . . .

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