In case you don’t know – “upskirting” is now legal in the state of Georgia. What exactly is “upskirting”, you may ask? It is just as it sounds: a stranger using a mirror or other device, such as a cell phone, to look up the skirts of unsuspecting women.
Publix employee, Brandon Gary, was caught on store video camera using his cell phone to look up the skirts of customers as they shopped. He was found guilty of recording at least one woman, although you have to wonder how on earth he was able to do this without being noticed.
Apparently, one woman did notice Mr. Gary as she was shopping. She says he bent down and pretended to tie his shoe on one aisle, and then she noticed him a few minutes later doing the same thing on a different aisle in the Houston County Publix.
The woman, who is unnamed, reported her suspicions to the store manager, and that is how Gary was caught. He admitted to having recorded the woman’s under-skirt and he was sentenced to five- years’ probation.
Most people would think this is just awful, and it is; however, in Georgia it is not illegal. Gary was arrested and convicted at trial, but the Georgia Court of Appeals has overturned his conviction. The court says that the secret filming of women’s private parts is not an invasion of privacy, and thus is not covered by Georgia’s Invasion of Privacy Act.
Legal experts have criticized the Court’s ruling saying that it focuses too much on antiquated definitions of the word “place”. Here we go again, with the definition of simple words. Apparently, older dictionaries did not define “place” to include private body parts.
Needless to say, Georgia legislators are rightly up in arms about this ruling, promising to change the law to specifically include filming private areas of the body without consent. But, here’s the kicker: Georgia’s legislature does not reconvene until next spring.
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