A letter from Jeff, a reader, about an incredible new New York bill:

"Dear Glenn

"This year, a couple of women complained to New York City Councilman Peter Vallone, Jr., about a man standing under the subway steps at their station and looking up their skirts.

"He has responded with city legislation, introduced yesterday, that would make all voyeurism in New York a misdemeanor.

"Staring at women is rude.  But, if it were turned into a crime, we all know what would happen.

"You get all types of people on the subway here, everyone from rude men looking for cheap thrills to mentally ill, paranoid women.  These problems are best handled by the individuals involved.  Passing laws just to appease a couple of female constituents is just not a good idea.

"Peter Vallone is a relatively moderate voice on a city council dominated by wild-eyed extremists.  I was surprised at this move. The New York Chapter of the ACLU recognizes this legislation as too broad and have recommended against its passage."

I would agree with Jeff that staring at women can be rude. Making it a crime is quite another matter. I would also add that some women do everything they possibly can so men will look at them. Or if that's not their intent, they sure make it seem that way. The New York Sun article on the new bill is below.

Law Would Be Curtains for Voyeurs
By Grace Rauth
New York Sun, August 23, 2007

New legislation before the City Council could make it illegal for New Yorkers to look at a naked neighbor.

Council Member Peter Vallone Jr., a Democrat of Queens, is proposing to outlaw voyeurism by extending a state law that forbids nonconsensual peeping with cameras. He'd apply the law to also include, in the city, peeping with the naked eye.

The law would target offenders who crane their necks to peer under the dresses of women scampering up and down subway stairs. But the legislation also would ensnare anyone caught glancing into the window of a private bedroom or bathroom, which, in a city full of densely packed apartment buildings, is a hazard or a pleasure of urban life, depending on how you look at it, or who your neighbors are.

"If you have an expectation of privacy and someone is looking at you, you would be violating this law," Mr. Vallone said. It would not, for example, protect someone who stands naked beside her living room window, he said.

The New York Civil Liberties Union said the legislation, which was officially introduced yesterday, was too broad and could lead to abuse. The bill's "lack of clarity confers a license for abuse on those empowered to enforce the law by leaving it up to the individual police officer to decide which kinds of viewing are lawful and which kinds are degrading and hence unlawful," the group's executive director, Donna Lieberman, said in a statement.

Under Mr. Vallone's bill, characters on the television show "Friends," which was set in New York City, probably would be serving hard time. The cast regularly watched a man who lived across the street, known as the "ugly naked guy." A nudist, he might not have pressed charges.

While the bill was designed to deal with repeat offenders who do their peeping in public, Mr. Vallone acknowledged that, "invariably, other situations are going to get caught up in this."

Violations would be considered misdemeanors, punishable by up to 90 days in jail and a $500 fine.

The bill states that it would be illegal for anyone to deliberately view another person in a private place when they are in a state of undress, having sex, or using the bathroom, without that person's knowledge or consent. In a public place, it would be illegal for a person to deliberately or repeatedly go to a position to view "another person's sexual or intimate parts" when "such parts are not otherwise visible to the public."

A spokesman for Mr. Vallone, Andrew Moesel, said the law would be easier to enforce than some might think. A victim of peeping would be able to call the police and give a description of the offender.

Read the full article here.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 27th, 2007 at 2:20 pm and is filed under Crime/Criminal Justice System/Police, Sexism, Misandry. You can trackback from your own site.