Assembly approves amended measure outlawing taping of ‘private areas’

CARSON CITY — After 10 years of trying, Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, finally has won Assembly approval of a bill to make "video voyeurism" a crime in Nevada.

The Assembly voted 42-0 Tuesday for an amended version of her Senate Bill 10. Under the bill, people who intentionally take photos or videotape the "private areas" of others against their wishes and then distribute or publish them would be guilty of a gross misdemeanor. A second offense would be a felony and subject to one to four years in prison.

Cegavske has tried in vain to pass a video voyeurism bill throughout her career in the Legislature.

She has cited cases in which Las Vegas showgirls in a dressing room were photographed by a hidden camera and a woman in Reno was secretly photographed in her home.

During hearings this month, the American Civil Liberties Union said under Cegavske’s bill, paparazzi could be imprisoned for distributing pictures such as those widely circulated shots of an underdressed Britney Spears. ACLU lawyer Lee Rowland called the bill unconstitutional "and also unwise, as it would literally criminalize every tabloid magazine."

The Assembly Judiciary Committee responded with an amendment that makes the first offense a gross misdemeanor, a crime that seldom leads to jail. The offense would apply in situations where the person being photographed has a "reasonable expectation of privacy."

The Senate must concur with the Assembly amendment before the bill goes to Gov. Jim Gibbons for his signature.