Posed photograph by Dave Gingrich
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that users of public transport in Massachusetts, US, have no expectation of privacy, essentially making “upskirt” photos legal on Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) services according to the Boston Herald.
In a case against a man accused of using his mobile phone to take pictures up the skirts of female passengers, the Supreme Judicial Court justices found that state law bans photographing an unknowing nude or partially nude person, but does not apply to people fully clothed, as in this case.
The justices said:
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”
The finding has sparked calls for legislators to update the law to criminalise such actions.