Our friends in the Massachusetts Legislature felt it necessary last week to pass a law against shooting “upskirting” photos of unsuspecting women. What the law does, according to the Associated Press, is make “photographing or recording video under a person’s clothing – think down a blouse or up a skirt – a misdemeanor.”
In addition, the law states that “whoever videotapes or photographs, with the intent to secretly conduct or hide such activity, the sexual or other intimate parts of a child” faces a sentence of 2.5 to five years and up to a $5,000 fine. The law goes into effect immediately.

Well, good. But why is such a law necessary? People should know that shooting such photographs or videos is just … well, uncouth might be one way to put it. Others would be juvenile, sick, pathetic … you get the idea.

In a related piece of news, we have this from Google news:

“An Army sergeant who had been accused of secretly photographing and videotaping at least a dozen women at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point has pleaded guilty in a court-martial, officials said Friday.
“Sgt. 1st Class Michael McClendon agreed to a plea bargain Wednesday that includes a 33-month sentence, loss of pay, a reduction in rank to private and a bad-conduct discharge, according to officials at Fort Drum in northern New York.”

Good grief. Sometimes, the predilections of the human race amaze us and we wonder if we really have evolved as a species.

Anyway, yes, obviously, this law was needed and it’s a sad commentary upon the state of humanity that it is.