New Jersey moving to outlaw "upskirt" photos
TRENTON, N.J. -- Legislation that would make "upskirt" photographs illegal passed through the New Jersey Assembly's judiciary committee on Thursday, reports CBS Philly.
"They can take their cell phones and a camera and take pictures and it's called upskirting because the pictures are taken underneath the ladies' dress," said Assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker, who introduced the legislation."It's an invasion of someone's privacy."
The station reports that there are laws in place against upskirting in Pennsylvania and Delaware. Massachusetts also passed an upskirting law in 2014 after the state's highest court ruled that a man accused of taking such photos on the Boston subway had not violated the law.
Right now upskirting would fall under invasion of privacy laws in New Jersey -- but Tucker wants to make it a specific crime.
Last month at a Wegmans grocery store in Montgomery Township, police reportedly say that a woman was in the checkout line when she noticed a man bent down holding a cell phone under her skirt.
When she confronted him, he reportedly fled the store.
With the bill getting more attention, Tucker says it could make perpetrators think twice before committing the crime.
"It's just something that happens all the time and we are just trying to make sure we take care of it."
The measure reportedly makes upskirting a fourth-degree offense, and makes sharing the photos online a third-degree offense.
The bill now heads for a vote in the full Assembly.
Meanwhile, police in Walpole, Mass., are currently seeking a man accused of taking upskirt photos in a Jo- Ann Fabric store at the local mall.