Gibbons signs video voyeurism measure

CARSON CITY -- Video voyeurism soon will be a crime in Nevada.

Gov. Jim Gibbons on Wednesday signed Senate Bill 10, culminating a 10-year effort by Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, to punish those who intentionally take photos of or videotape the "private areas" of others against their wishes and then distribute or publish them.

Often such images turn up on the Internet.

The bill makes such action a gross misdemeanor for the first offense and a felony for the second offense. The felony would make the lawbreaker subject to one to four years in prison.

"This is good for Nevada," Cegavske said. "I am very grateful to both houses. Three sessions of trying is a charm."

During hearings, Cegavske 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.

But the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada warned that under the bill, paparazzi could be imprisoned for distributing pictures such as those widely circulated shots of Britney Spears without panties.