Texas Court Tosses Out ‘Improper Photography’ Law
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on September 19th, 2014 11:08 pm by HL
Texas Court Tosses Out ‘Improper Photography’ Law
The highest criminal court in Texas tossed out a state law Wednesday banning “improper photography” — photos or videos taken in a public place without consent and with the purpose of sexual gratification — as a violation of free-speech rights. “Protecting someone who appears in public from being the object of sexual thoughts seems to be the sort of paternalistic interest in regulating the defendant’s mind that the First Amendment was designed to guard against,” said the opinion, written by Presiding Judge Sharon Keller. “We also keep in mind the Supreme Court’s admonition that the forms of speech that are exempt from First Amendment protection are limited, and we should not be quick to recognize new categories of unprotected expression.”