Warning: Your Pants Could Land You In Jail

[hamilton]

From www.thestar.com :

Battle against saggy pants

Saggy pants have gotten some U.S. city officials so bummed out they've launched a crackdown

September 17, 2007

Matthew Verrinder

ASSOCIATED PRESS

TRENTON, N.J.–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 (U.S.) fine. A crackdown also is being pushed in Atlanta. And in Trenton, N.J., 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 Councillor 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 1980s, 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 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 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," said C.T. Martin, an Atlanta councillor. "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 of 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."

Stupid.

[Velvet]

"crackdown"

funny

[MarcO]

Wouldn't it be better to just kill people with their baggy pants hanging down?

[Guest Low Roller]

HEADSHOT!

[PalacePrincess]

well, unless you're lindsay lohan, in which case OTHER people's pants may land you in jail.

[Freak By Night]

The older generation has been complaining about the way kids dress since time immemorial. Back when I was a kid the older people didn't like kids wearing tight blue jeans and t-shirts. When the baggy pants crowd become parents, they'll complain about the way their kids dress.

This article is further proof that the US is becoming a police state. I'm glad I don't live there anymore.

[rubberdinghy]

people didn't like kids wearing tight blue jeans and t-shirts

How old are you anyways?!?!?

[Davey Boy 2.0]

...each of the ten classic steps used by dictators to close down open societies are underway in the United States today.

[Velvet]

I once saw a very funny cartoon:

Young kid in baggy pants hanging down to his knees faces an old man in pants buckled around his nipples. Each says to the other in a single word bubble, "What's with the pants?!?"

[Freak By Night]

How old are you anyways?!?!?

Take your age and double it, then subtract 20.

I'm old enough to be your older brother!

[Gr8FuL]

Thats Ridiculous......The U.S needs to pull its head out of its own ass. Jesus

[Kanada Kev]

All I ask people is if you had to RUN AWAY from danger, do you really want shoes that are untied and a pair of pants that are falling off? Sheer idiocy.

[timouse]

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 of 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."

[paisley]

...each of the ten classic steps used by dictators to close down open societies are underway in the United States today.

its apparently a lot easier and quicker to have your name officially changed if you're mistakenly included on the no-fly list in the U.S. than it is to try and have your name simply removed from the list by proving you don't belong on it (which is supposed to be near impossible)... was some 8 year old kid down there who had to change his name so he could visit both his parents living in different states after a typo put him on the list... gotta love that level of bureaucratic efficiency (Land of the Free!)

[Ms.Huxtable]

So to punish people for wearing baggy pants, they send them to prison where they are forced to wear baggy pants?

I don't see the logic on this one.

[ollie]

All I ask people is if you had to RUN AWAY from danger, do you really want shoes that are untied and a pair of pants that are falling off? Sheer idiocy.

Exactly. Baggy pants are just an example of Darwinism at work.

[Hal Johnson]

Obviously neither of you have ever shoved a bottle of Schlitz Strong down your pants so as to not pay for it...back in tha day.

[Rob Not Bob]

All I ask people is if you had to RUN AWAY from danger' date=' do you really want shoes that are untied and a pair of pants that are falling off? Sheer idiocy. [/quote']

Exactly. Baggy pants are just an example of Darwinism at work.

Which is why they are being banned in the states, where Darwin never existed.