(These news items covered our criminal defense partner Jon Katz's legal analyses of  the Washington sniper trial, the Sami al-Arian trial, the Kobe Bryant trial, drug defense, child pornography defense, and obscenity defense; and Jon Katz's defense in the Plowshares case.)

ARTICLE: THINK TWICE BEFORE ADDING NEW CRIMINAL LAWS

By Jon Katz

NOTE: On March 2, 2006, Marks & Katz partner Jon Katz appeared at the invitation of WJZ TV news (Baltimore's CBS affiliate), and voiced his opposition against criminalizing so-called upskirting and downblousing activity. The interview and news segment is here. Jon's detailed views follow: 

Not content with criminalizing an overbroad definition of "peeping tom" activity, yesterday the Maryland House of Delegates added upskirting and downblousing to the list of criminalized behavior.

The problem is that such a law makes it too easy to mistake an innocent person for a pervert photographing up a woman's miniskirt (e.g. holding a camera phone at thigh level talking in a hands-free earpiece, but with the phone inadvertently aimed towards the skirt of the person just ahead in a checkout line). It's just one more opportunity for innocent people to be arrested and searched, one more new crime to threaten negative immigration consequences on non-citizens, and one more way for cops to stop people they're profiling for other criminal activity (e.g., drugs).

It's bad enough that seatbelt laws and anti-driving-while-cellphoning laws (as in DC) give cops another disingenuous reason to snoop around for drugs, DWI, and other crimes. We don't need this bill and other new laws that are going to make cops all the more over-intrusive in our lives than they already are.

Although this bill passed the Maryland House of Delegates, hopefully it will fail or die in the Senate by the end of this year's legislative session. At the invitation of WJZ TV Baltimore, I provided my views on the bill, which are briefly shown from last night here, http://www.wjz.com/video/?id=15831@wjz.dayport.com .

We are living in a time when legitimate photography acrivity is being suppressed left and right (see, e.g., http://rcfp.org/news/2005/1011-new-office.html ), from reporters peacefully photographing cops manhandling demonstrators, to cops stopping people photographing trains and skyscrapers, to laws criminalizing people's photographing outside various government facilities. This upskirting bill continues in this vein of violations of First Amendment and Constitutional rights. 

The bill is here: http://mlis.state.md.us/2006rs/bills/hb/hb0060t.pdf . It expands Md. Crim. Law Code § 3-902.

     Marks & Katz fights tirelessly for justice for our clients, with 30 years of combined experience. We are driven to win, put our clients ahead of money, and are ever-passionate for our clients and their causes. Our law partners Jay Marks and Jon Katz serve our clients directly, with caring and understanding. Jay and Jon met in 1969, attended public school together, trust each other deeply, revel in the thrill of victory, and fight side by side. We opened in 1998, and look forward to many more years of doing good for our clients and society. We are dedicated to justice, welcome tough cases, and never shy away from controversy. 

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