iStock"Taking photos up women's skirts? Yeah, that's fine."
(36 hours later)
"Wait, that was probably a bad call. Upskirt photos are not fine."
And you are now officially, more or less, all caught up on what's been going on in Massachusetts the past couple of days. But if you need the unabridged version….
On Wednesday, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts declared that the man who was caught taking cellphone photos up women's skirts on a Boston subway in 2010 did not violate state law because the women weren't nude or partially nude. And the women weren't in a place where they need privacy, like a bathroom or dressing room. So yeah, that law was crazy flawed.
After the ruling, Massachusetts lawmakers had drafted a bill, got it passed and had it sent over to the governor to be signed into law. So 36 hours after the Supreme Court ruled that it's OK to take upskirt photos, it's now a misdemeanor to photograph of videotape under a person's clothing.
"I am proud of the Senate for taking action today to restore a women's right to privacy," Senate President Therese Murray said in a statement. "We are sending a message that to take a photo or video of a woman under her clothing is morally reprehensible and, in Massachusetts, we will put you in jail for doing it. We will need to revisit this law again and again as technology continues to evolve and ensure that we are providing the necessary protections."
Skirts are safe again! Unless it's a skort (skirt-short combo piece). Then it's never safe. At least, it's not fashionably safe.
Also we think it's really funny that any weirdos searching the Internet for "upskirt photos" today will see hundreds of articles about how creepy and illegal those pics are.