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Cities Cracking Down on Saggy Pants




Sep 16, 2:35 PM (ET)

By MATTHEW VERRINDER






TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - It's a fashion that started in prison, and now the saggy pants craze has come full circle - low-slung street strutting in some cities may soon mean run-ins with the law, including a stint in jail.

Proposals to ban saggy pants are starting to ride up in several places. At the extreme end, wearing pants low enough to show boxers or bare buttocks in one small Louisiana town means six months in jail and a $500 fine. A crackdown also is being pushed in Atlanta. And in Trenton, getting caught with your pants down may soon result in not only a fine, but a city worker assessing where your life is headed.

"Are they employed? Do they have a high school diploma? It's a wonderful way to redirect at that point," said Trenton Councilwoman Annette Lartigue, who is drafting a law to outlaw saggy pants. "The message is clear: We don't want to see your backside."

The bare-your-britches fashion is believed to have started in prisons, where inmates aren't given belts with their baggy uniform pants to prevent hangings and beatings. By the late 80s, the trend had made it to gangster rap videos, then went on to skateboarders in the suburbs and high school hallways.


"For young people, it's a form of rebellion and identity," Adrian "Easy A.D." Harris, 43, a founding member of the Bronx's legendary rap group Cold Crush Brothers. "The young people think it's fashionable. They don't think it's negative."

But for those who want to stop them see it as an indecent, sloppy trend that is a bad influence on children.

"It has the potential to catch on with elementary school kids, and we want to stop it before it gets there," said C.T. Martin, an Atlanta councilman. "Teachers have raised questions about what a distraction it is."

In Atlanta, a law has been introduced to ban sagging and punishment could include small fines or community work - but no jail time, Martin said.

The penalty is stiffer in Delcambre, La., where in June the town council passed an ordinance that carries a fine of up to $500 or six months in jail for exposing underwear in public. Several other municipalities and parish governments in Louisiana have enacted similar laws in recent months.

At Trenton hip-hop clothing store Razor Sharp Clothing Shop 4 Ballers, shopper Mark Wise, 30, said his jeans sag for practical reasons.

"The reason I don't wear tight pants is because it's easier to get money out of my pocket this way," Wise said. "It's just more comfortable."

Shop owner Mack Murray said Trenton's proposed ordinance unfairly targets blacks.

"Are they going to go after construction workers and plumbers, because their pants sag, too?" Murray asked. "They're stereotyping us."

The American Civil Liberties Union agrees.

"In Atlanta, we see this as racial profiling," said Benetta Standly, statewide organizer for the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia. "It's going to target African-American male youths. There's a fear with people associating the way you dress with crimes being committed."

"The reason I don't wear tight pants is because it's easier to get money out of my pocket this way,"

I doubt if cops will be stopping guys with baggy pantss to write citations.

Perhaps just to "axe" them some questions.

Guess what, if you dress like a gangbanger, talk like a gangbanger, and walk like
a gangbanger, Your a Gangbanger , and you should be harassed by the cops.

Saggy pants shouldn't be banned.  After all, saggy pants makes it easier for the cops to catch these people when they try to run...

No shit, I was a witness to this once.  A guy with saggy pants was walking down the street, a cop drove up to him and started to ask him some questions.  The guy just ran and the cop got out of his car, chasing the guy.  

The guy only made it about 50 feet before tripping because of his pants and he ended up handcuffed and in the back of the police car.  My guess is that the cop were interested in him for some reason.  He sure looked like he was up to no good.  

I propose a constitutional amendment to allow the police to shoot saggers on sight.

What a bunch of bullshit. I'd be embarassed if the people running my city didn't have anything better to do than sit around making up this kind of garbage.

I think if you are wearing them low enough that all your stuff is hanging out for everyone to see that's one thing but just having baggy pants is a dumb reason to harass people.

Quoted: I think if you are wearing them low enough that all your stuff is hanging out for everyone to see that's one thing but just having baggy pants is a dumb reason to harass people.

I agree.

Anything obcene is most likely already covered by law and anything else is not the business of the government.

One day, people will look at shit like this and identify it as the kind of thing that caused America to cease to be a great country.

I thought there already was a crack down.

When I was in high school, a kid wearing saggy pants bent over to tie his shoe right in front of me. He exposed waaay more crack than I wanted to see, so I responded with the first thing that came to mind-I dropped my lit cigarette down the back of his shorts and kept on walking.

Problem solved-he took to wearing a belt.

Quoted: Quoted: I think if you are wearing them low enough that all your stuff is hanging out for everyone to see that's one thing but just having baggy pants is a dumb reason to harass people. I agree. Anything obcene is most likely already covered by law and anything else is not the business of the government. One day, people will look at shit like this and identify it as the kind of thing that caused America to cease to be a great country.

Hammer, meet nail.


While I think the saggy pants thing is dumber than a box of rocks, it's none of the government's business.   What's next?  No "Glock" or "Smith & Wesson" shirts because people get intimidated by them?

Slippery slope people.  Slippery slope.


CMOS

I would never enforce a stupid law like that.

Quoted: I thought there already was a crack down.

crackiswhack

Quoted: Saggy pants shouldn't be banned.  After all, saggy pants makes it easier for the cops to catch these people when they try to run... No shit, I was a witness to this once.  A guy with saggy pants was walking down the street, a cop drove up to him and started to ask him some questions.  The guy just ran and the cop got out of his car, chasing the guy.   The guy only made it about 50 feet before tripping because of his pants and he ended up handcuffed and in the back of the police car.  My guess is that the cop were interested in him for some reason.  He sure looked like he was up to no good.

Thats what I was going to say

Oh, I thought you said soggy pants.  Never mind....

maybe its underwear advertizing ..

when you teach the hoodlums how to dress like accountants then you will really have trouble..

Quoted: Guess what, if you dress like a gangbanger, talk like a gangbanger, and walk like a gangbanger, Your a Gangbanger , and you should be harassed by the cops.

Guess what ?

Oy.. neva mind

This ban is just another tool for police.

Without it, they can't stop these douchbags without it being "profiling".

Now they have a legal reason for stopping them.

Personally, I don't agree with it.  Let them be a douchbag if they want.
But trying to enforce a dresscode?  Freedom of expression.