Upskirt, an increasingly pervasive phenomenon in which creepy pervs use cell phones or secret cameras to take photos from inside victim's skirts without their consent, has resulted in some high profile arrests in NYC in the past few years. There was the alleged Hipster Upskirter, who got off after his alleged victim declined to press charges. Then there was a Brooklyn upskirt art installation. And who could forget the Upskirt Urologist, who got off with community service as part of a plea deal? And in the latest upskirt news, we learn that in Massachusetts this sort of activity isn't even a crime.
Today the Massachusetts Supreme Court overturned a lower court's ruling against defendant Michael Robertson, who was arrested for allegedly taking upskirt photos of women riding the Boston subway. The AP reports that Robertson was busted in a sting conducted by undercover officers responding to complaints about his behavior. He was convicted of violating the state's Peeping Tom law, which protects people from being photographed in dressing rooms or bathrooms when nude or partially nude.
But Robertson's attorney successfully argued that because the women were in public and fully clothed, he in fact broke no law. The state's highest court agreed, issuing a decision that states, "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."
Massachusetts state law, therefore, "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," the court ruled.
A spokesman for the Suffolk County DA in Massachusetts said, "The only solution now is to ask the Legislature to rewrite the statutes." Until that happens, Massachusetts remains the upskirt capital of America.
