Massachusetts House and Senate lawmakers passed a bill on Thursday to ban the practice of secretly taking photographs up the skirts of women in public just one day after the state Supreme Judicial Court ruled that a man who took cell phone photos up the skirts of women riding the Boston subway did not violate the law.
The legislation would make taking the photographs a misdemeanor, with penalties of up to 2.5 years in jail and a fine of $5,000. The penalty would jump to five years in prison and $10,000 fine if the victim is under 18. Distributing the photographs would be a felony.
Massachusetts House Speaker Robert Deleo said he was happy with how quickly the legislature dealt with the issue:
"I don't know if we could move much faster than this in the Legislature," he said.
Senate President Therese Murray said women should not have to feel at risk:
"Women and children should be able to go to public places without feeling that they are not protected by the law. So this will at least bring us up to speed now but what technology comes in the future, we'll need to stay on top of."
The bill now goes to the Governor for his signature.
