June 13, 2007: Cajun Town Bans Saggy Pants in Bid to Cover Up 'Private Parts'
DELCAMBRE, La. — Overly saggy britches are obscene, the Delcambre Town Council says. So does Mayor Carol Broussard, who said he will sign an anti-sag ordinance passed unanimously this week.
The new indecent exposure ordinance in this Cajun-country town of about 2,000 carries penalties of up to six months in jail and a $500 fine for being caught in pants that show undergarments or, in the mayor's phrase, "private parts."
"I don't know if it will do any good, but it won't hurt," said Delcambre Councilman Albert Roy, who introduced the ordinance. "It's obvious, and anybody with common sense can see your parts when you wear sagging pants."
The meeting Monday night packed the small trailer that has been Town Hall since Hurricane Rita swept in six feet of storm surge on Sept. 24, 2005.
Low-hanging, baggy pants have become a fashion fad, mostly for young men in the hip-hop culture. Several residents objected that the ordinance targeted blacks.
Broussard denied any racial motivation. "White people wear sagging pants, too. Anybody who wears these pants should be held responsible."
Although Roy, who is black, introduced the ordinance, he said a $500 fine is outrageous: "I think it should be something like $25."
The ordinance states, "It shall be unlawful for any person in any public place or in view of the public to be found in a state of nudity, or partial nudity, or in dress not becoming to his or her sex, or in any indecent exposure of his or her person or undergarments, or be guilty of any indecent or lewd behavior."
The law applies to women as well as men, the mayor said Wednesday. "If you expose some of your privates, the crack of your behind, if somebody feels insulted they should press charges. If you're offended by it, we want to straighten that out."
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August 14, 2007: Louisiana Town Bans Sagging Pants to Avoid Exposing Underwear
MANSFIELD, La. — Effective Sept. 15, anyone in this northwest Louisiana town caught wearing sagging pants that expose his or her underwear will be subject to a fine up to $150 plus court costs, or face up to 15 days in jail.
Mansfield aldermen Monday voted unanimously and without discussion to enact the law. Mayor Curtis McCoy said he proposed it because he was concerned about the number of individuals who wear pants that expose their underwear. The citizens of Mansfield, he said, should not have to put up with it.
City attorney Richard Z. Johnson Jr. said he researched state statutes and borrowed from a similar law adopted in the south Louisiana town of Delcambre as a guideline in creating Mansfield's ordinance. Several municipalities and parish governments in Louisiana have enacted similar laws in recent months.
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September 4, 2007: Baggy Pants Ban Signed into Law in Louisiana
Communities from Louisiana to Connecticut are proposing legislation to ban sagging pants as part of their public indecency laws. Louisiana Councilman Lindel Toups talks about the ban on public display of undergarments that was passed into state law last month.
Lindel Toups, councilman in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana; legislation that he proposed to ban the public display of undergarments was enacted into law on August 10.
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October 15, 2007: Several U.S. cities snapping over baggy pants
"If we have kids going around wearing pants below their butts, it's not nice, not decent," says Timothy Holmes, a city commissioner in Opa-locka, Fla. "If you ask six of these kids, 'What are your grades?' four will tell you they're making C's, D's and F's. I see how senior citizens respond to these kids. They're afraid."
Opa-locka, a Miami suburb of 15,000 that has struggled to curb violent crime, is the latest municipality to take up sagging pants. Holmes has proposed an ordinance that would ban wearing them in city parks, the library and other municipal buildings. The proposal, which will be voted on Oct. 24, carries no fines or jail time, although violators would be evicted from city property. Holmes says he expects the measure to pass.
Low-slung pants, which droop below the hips and expose underwear and more, are the latest in generations of adolescent fashion statements to rankle adults. Just as miniskirts in the 1960s prompted unsuccessful civic efforts to cover up exposed legs, civil libertarians warn that banning sagging pants will be exceedingly difficult to defend in court.
"Wearing of clothing is absolutely free expression" protected by the First Amendment, says Marjorie Esman, executive director of the Louisiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
That prospect hasn't deterred officials from Texas to Connecticut from trying to pass new indecency statutes. Among their efforts:
•New bans have been adopted in Hawkinsville, Ga., and six Louisiana cities and parishes, including Shreveport and Alexandria.
•Proposed bans are under consideration in Trenton and Pleasantville, N.J.; Charlotte; Dallas; Baltimore; Atlanta and three other Georgia towns including Rome, Brunswick and Plains; Duncan, Okla.; and Yonkers, N.Y.•Bans have been rejected in Natchitoches, La.; Stratford, Conn.; and Pine Bluff, Ark.
Penalties range from fines or jail time to warnings. Several towns in Louisiana, including Mansfield, near Shreveport, passed measures in June that include fines of $150 or 15 days in jail. The Dallas city council is considering a non-binding resolution against sagging pants.
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