Thursday, September 19, 2002

Short Arm of the Law Alert!
I mentioned this previously, but now the Washington State Supreme Court has ruled:
Photographing or videotaping up a woman's skirt in a public place doesn't violate a voyeurism law, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

The unanimous ruling found that the law only protects people in places where they have a reasonable expectation of privacy. The court rejected prosecutors' arguments that people reasonably expect privacy under their clothing.

The ruling overturned the convictions of Sean Glas and Richard Sorrells.

"Although Glas' and Sorrells' actions are reprehensible, we agree that the voyeurism statute, as written, does not prohibit upskirt photography in a public location," wrote Justice Bobbe Bridge, one of four women on the nine-member court.

Prosecutors said Glas apparently planned to sell to an Internet site photographs he took at a mall in Union Gap. He was arrested in 1999 when women he photographed spotted him crouching near them.

Sorrels was arrested at a Seattle food festival after witnesses told police they saw him videotaping underneath little girls' dresses. Police found images taken up girls' and women's skirts on his camera.
Maybe they'll meet up with a guy in kilts.