On May 5, the House Judiciary Committee approved, by voice vote, a bill (S. 1301) to prevent video voyeurism. The Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security approved the measure on March 30 (see The Source, 4/2/04). The Senate approved S. 1301 on September 25 (see The Source, 9/26/03).
S. 1301 would make it a federal crime to knowingly “capture,” by videotaping, filming, or photographing, an “improper image” of another individual, defined in the bill as “an image, captured without the consent of that individual, of the naked or undergarment clad genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or female breast of that individual.” The term “broadcast” means electronically transmitting a visual image “with the intent that it be viewed by a person or persons.” In order to convict an offender of video voyeurism, prosecutors would have to show that the individual knowingly intended to capture the image.
