Atlanta considers banning baggy pants

[Richard]

ATLANTA - Baggy pants that show boxer shorts or thongs would be illegal under a proposed amendment to Atlanta's indecency laws. The amendment, sponsored by city councilman C.T. Martin, states that sagging pants are an "epidemic" that is becoming a "major concern" around the country.

"Little children see it and want to adopt it, thinking it's the in thing," Martin said Wednesday. "I don't want young people thinking that half-dressing is the way to go. I want them to think about their future."

The proposed ordinance would also bar women from showing the strap of a thong beneath their pants. They would also be prohibited from wearing jogging bras in public or show a bra strap, said Debbie Seagraves, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia.

The proposed ordinance states that "the indecent exposure of his or her undergarments" would be unlawful in a public place. It would go in the same portion of the city code that outlaws sex in public and the exposure or fondling of genitals.

The penalty would be a fine in an amount to be determined, Martin said.

But Seagraves said any legislation that creates a dress code would not survive a court challenge. She said the law could not be enforced in a nondiscriminatory way because it targets something that came out of the black youth culture.

"This is a racial profiling bill that promotes and establishes a framework for an additional type of racial profiling," Seagraves said.

Martin, who is black, said he plans to hold public hearings and vet the proposal through churches, civil rights groups and neighborhood organizations. The proposal will get its first public airing next Tuesday in the City Council's Public Safety Committee.

"The purpose of the paper is to generate some conversation to see if we can find a solution," Martin said. "It will be like all the discussions we've had around the value of the hip-hop culture. We know there are First Amendment issues ... and some will say I'm just trying to put young black men in jail, but it's going to be fines."

Makeda Johnson, an Atlanta mother of a 14-year-old girl, said she is glad Martin introduced the proposal. She does not want to see a law against clothing, but said she thinks teenagers are sending a message with a way of dressing that is based in jailhouse behavior.

Atlanta would not be the first city to take on sagging pants.

Earlier this year, the town council in Delcambre, La., 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.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070823/ap_o...FtowQDW7oF

[Astrojewels]

What country is this? I agree that some of the clothing worn by young people is not attractive but to have laws controlling your clothing, really! People go through phases of fashion fads, it will wear out, the more reaction the greater the rebellion, it is the nature of a young person to do the opposite of what he/she is told. This type of exposure will only enhance this fashion statement. Maybe set off a whole new industry- the fashion police!!

[Richard]

Atlanta is in the US. I don’t think they’ll be able to pass a law like that but I can understand why they’re trying too. The young people look ridiculous wearing their pants so low that the waistband is just about down to their knees.  It’s like what is the point of wearing the pants at all. Why not just go around in their underwear. icon_lol

[Richard]

It looks like I was wrong, they were able to pass a law against baggy pants.

Sagging Your Pants? Risk a Fine Or Jail Time

Posted by Alex Jung

Beginning mid-way in September, the law in Mansfield, Louisiana are imposing a city-dress code that prohibits the sagging of pants. Pant-saggers can be fined $150 (plus court costs) or be thrown into jail up to 15 days. Seriously?

The logic of the rule, is "race-blind" and relying on standards of "decency," regardless of the fact that purveyors of the style are black men. In the West Ward of Trenton, Councilwoman Annette Lartigue is drafting an ordinance to fine or enforce community service to curb this national epidemic. She said,

"It's a fad like hot pants; however, I think it crosses the line when a person shows their backside. You can't legislate how people dress, but you can legislate when people begin to become indecent by their body parts."

Has she actually seen anyone wear sagging jeans? There's pretty clearly no actual skin exposure involved, and certainly nothing vaguely comparable to hot pants. Moral decency isn't really the issue here. Essentially, lawmakers are trying to control a group they see as "threatening" -- young, black men. Since people are more likely to believe that black men committed violent crimes (whether they did it or not is unimportant), it now follows that we should simply outlaw whatever it is that black men do that's too, you know, black.

defended American Airlines' sacking of a black woman for wearing cornrows because the policy was supposedly banning a hairstyle, not an identity. Black people are still allowed to work there; they just have to be black people that look more like white people.

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/61377/#more

[Astrojewels]

Maybe all the black people should dye their hair blonde, and wear blue contacts, I see this also as a racial attack and truly a control issue, it is slavery in the 21st century, even though I do not like this style of dress that does not give me the right to take it away from another person, unless the fashion is offensive I really see this as a big problem in your country, telling people how to dress and wear their hair. This reminds me of Nazism and I certainly see this as a trigger for those affected, perhaps Atlanta will be a place that we will soon see much action with a very negative tone. The simplest ways to trigger a young person is demand and tell them what they must do, because youth has an inbuilt switch that turns on every time you say “no”.

[Richard]

I don’t see it as targeting black people because some white people do it too. However I don’t think a law will help the situation. You know what happens when you tell someone they can’t do something. The law will probably just cause even more people to dress ridiculously.

[Astrojewels]

Yes, but are they white people trying to fit into a group and mind set that has majority of black people? but seriously what are they going to do, most of the people that wear their pants like that I presume are young, so fine them, put them in jail for baggy pants, what is the punishment, it really comes down to control and has nothing to do with the pants.

[Richard]

It looks like more and more states are making laws against baggy paints. I can see this turning into a big issue with people. 

Cities cracking down on saggy pants

By MATTHEW VERRINDER, Associated Press Writer

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."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070916/ap_on_re_us/saggy_britches&printer=1;_ylt=Av7e0YN1MkCFIG8sBFjH3bVH2ocA

[Astrojewels]

I do not like to see ‘buts’ hanging out, but 6months jail, this law is becoming ludicrous, jailing someone for their clothing is not American, these laws only belong in the middle east! There has to be another way to do this, most would agree that this type of clothing is not appropriate but does the public agree with jailing someone because of it? Very extreme.

[Richard]

I agree 6 months in jail is extreme. Instead they should try to persuade rappers to quit promoting it in their videos and then the fad will go out of fashion.