Constitutional Law

N.D. law barring video voyeurism is unconstitutional, court says

By By The Associated Press

FARGO, N.D. — The case against a male North Dakota State University student accused of secretly recording nude videos of a female roommate has been dismissed by a judge who says a new state law dealing with the subject is poorly written.

Judge Steven McCullough says the law passed by the Legislature last year barring the secret creation of sexually expressive images is unconstitutional because it?s overly broad and outlaws material protected by free-speech rights.

The law criminalizes nude images that aren?t obscene without any regard to potential artistic or scientific value, and doesn?t account for whether the subject of an image expected privacy, McCullough said.

As an example, the judge said it would be illegal for private investigators to hide while taking photos of a cheating spouse.

NDSU senior Anoop Singh had been charged with surreptitious creation or possession of a sexually expressive image. He was accused of hiding a cell phone with the video camera running in a bathroom.

Assistant Cass County State?s Attorney Tristan Van de Streek told The Forum newspaper that prosecutors are still reviewing the decision and haven?t decided their next step.

Defense attorney William Kirschner said his client was pleased with the ruling.

?Glad to see the First Amendment still lives,? Kirschner said.

Full post as published by First Amendment Center on October 20, 2010 (boomark / email).