The Legal Aid Society exists to help the poor, the downtrodden, and the unfortunate fight for their civil rights and to defend them against unjust charges. So how sad, how hypocritical it was of them not to come to the aid of Peter Barta, the Legal Aid Society lawyer whose only crime was secretly videotaping his female coworkers changing their clothes.

Barta pleaded guilty to "unlawful surveillance," a felony (but only when pervs do it, not the government). He'll lose his law license and have to endure an embarrassing year of "probation and counseling." Meanwhile the ladies are going off scot-free for having the audacity to change their clothes almost in public, sort of.

We salute Peter Barta, hero, friend to the poor, martyr, archetypical Sharper Image customer, amateur videographer, dude who likes seeing ladies change their clothes.

Legal Aid lawyer admits videotaping female co-workers [NYDN]