On March 30, the House Judiciary Committee approved, by voice vote, a bill (S. 1301) to prevent video voyeurism. The Senate approved the measure 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.” In order to convict an offender of video voyeurism, prosecutors would have to show that the individual knowingly intended to capture the image.
Prior to final approval, the committee approved, by voice vote, an amendment by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) that would clarify the term “broadcast” to mean electronically transmitting a visual image “with the intent that it be viewed by a person or persons.”
