Usually the wheels of government do not work quickly, but to remedy this wrong, the Massachusetts legislature expediently corrected a loophole in the state's Peeping Tom laws. Following a state Supreme Court decision, the state quickly changed its laws to prevent the incident from happening again.

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled on March 5 that photos taken by Michael Robertson on August 2010 were not illegal. Robertson was previously arrested for taking photos and videos up women's skirts and dresses on the MBTA with his cell phone, according to The Guardian.

The previous Peeping Tom laws protected one from being photographed or recorded when nude, but the Robertson incident pointed out a loophole.

"A female passenger on a MBTA trolley who is wearing a skirt, dress, or the like covering these parts of her body is not a person who is 'partially nude,' no matter what is or is not underneath the skirt by way of underwear or other clothing," according to the court's ruling.

Although the SJC does believe the act should be illegal, the way in which the law is written allows it.

District Attorney Dan Conley said, "What we have is not that the Supreme Judicial Court is saying this is ok. The statutory language just didn't quite fit the conduct." The legislature moved to update the law.

According to CNN, the Massachusetts legislature passed a law on Friday to remedy the problem. Two days after the SJC ruling, Massachusetts's governor Deval Patrick signed the updated law into immediate effect.

A statement from the governor's office said, "The legislation makes the secret photographing, videotaping, or electronically surveiling of another person's sexual or other intimate parts, whether under or around a person's clothing or when a reasonable person would believe that the person's intimate parts would not be visible to the public, a crime."

The updated law will make the crime punishable by up to two and a half years and a fine of up to $5000. The law also punishes taking similar photos and videos of children with up to five years in prison and a $5000 fine.

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