More bonehead legislation; "Sagging" prohibition starts

[Bikewer]

Today, the local municipality Pine Lawn has it's ordinance against "sagging" (wearing your pants on your hips and exposing your underwear) go into effect.
Pine Lawn joins a number of other cities around the country with this legislation; cities in Georgia, Florida, and Louisiana all have such ordinances, and they are being considered in other areas as well.
The Pine Lawn law prohibits wearing your trousers low enough to expose underwear or skin, and also purportedly prohibits "low rise" jeans for girls. A 100 dollar fine can be imposed, and parents who knowingly allow their children to so dress can be fined as well.

Now, being a 61-year old white guy, I find this sort of fashion statement to be deeply silly. But then, so are most youth fashions, and many thoroughly adult fashions. ( I survived 70s hair, open-to-the-waist disco shirts, gold medallions, Neru jackets, and all manner of other silliness)
My kid just had to have "parachute pants" back in the 80s....

It amazes me that adults get all tweaked out of shape by all this sort of thing, even to the extent of passing legislation. I long ago decided that much of youth behavior is conditioned by the "P.O.P." factor. That's "pi...ng off the parents".
The higher the POP factor, the more kiddies will want to do it. This extends to music, fashion, hair....Whatever. Goes back to the dawn of history. I seem to recall Plato railing against the youth of his day in a "These kids!" rant.
No doubt the staid politicians drafting these laws were "stylin" in some way when they were 16 as well.
Of course, the best of intentions are expressed. "The kids won't be able to get jobs dressed like that", as one city official said. "It's about family values".
Cynics have said it's about property values. Pine Lawn (a predominantly African-American community) has been courting developers and investors. Lots of "gang-banger"-looking youth hanging around is bad for potential investments......

No doubt this will not stand even the slightest legal scrutiny, and all it will take is for a citation to be issued to the offspring of someone with enough means to call an attorney.

Still, our august legislators will no doubt continue to flail away at these things.

[crackers]

(snip)
Still, our august legislators will no doubt continue to flail away at these things.

Well, sure. It's a whole lot easier than trying to solve actual problems.

[billydkid]

What bothers me is this - that people take this sort of legislation as amusing silliness. People compile lists of "silly laws" and everybody chuckles, but no one takes seriously the implications of these kinds laws - the idea that some people believe they have the right to tell others how to live by force. And government is, ultimately and only, force. We can all hold hands around the campfire and sing Kum By Ya, but government is force. It is only that it doesn't, at a particular moment, enforce its precepts on you in a way that interferes especially with your happiness that you don't feel it's oppression. My personal view is that the only legitimate role for government is to protect our God (rhetorically speaking) given rights.

[Cuddles]

Today, the local municipality Pine Lawn has it's ordinance against "sagging" (wearing your pants on your hips and exposing your underwear) go into effect.

The obvious solution is to not wear trousers at all and just claim that your boxers are actually shorts.

[Bikewer]

Quite a long time ago, my wife bought me a copy of The Trenton Pickle Ordinance, a history of such bonehead legislation.
Some of these silly laws could be seen as simply quaint or anachronistic; we only recently repealed a requirement for spittoons in public buildings, for instance.

Others were attempts to deal with new technology. Some of the early restrictions on driving and automobiles were truly comical from our viewpoint, but at the time may have had some merit.
Others, however, were blatant attempts to enforce the personal likes, dislikes, or tastes of the legislator or legislators upon the public.

The ordinance referred to in the title was one of those; the mayor of Trenton, N.J. passed a law prohibiting the sale or possession of pickles within the city limits. Why? He didn't like them. Manages to be both silly and frightening at the same time.

[Ausmerican]

I would think that, apart from the amusement factor, law enforcement would find it quite helpful that large chunks of an entire generation and in particular gangbangers choose to wear clothing that prohibits their ability to run away and/or fight. I would think that the crotch of your pants being at knee level or lower would inhibit both of these things as would wearing what looks like a 3X shirt on an M frame.

[bignickel]

I thought this thread was going to be about older women and bras...

[JoeEllison]

What bothers me is this - that people take this sort of legislation as amusing silliness. People compile lists of "silly laws" and everybody chuckles, but no one takes seriously the implications of these kinds laws - the idea that some people believe they have the right to tell others how to live by force. And government is, ultimately and only, force. We can all hold hands around the campfire and sing Kum By Ya, but government is force. It is only that it doesn't, at a particular moment, enforce its precepts on you in a way that interferes especially with your happiness that you don't feel it's oppression. My personal view is that the only legitimate role for government is to protect our God (rhetorically speaking) given rights.
That's an attitude even worse than the sagging pants thing! :rolleyes:

[Furcifer]

Today, the local municipality Pine Lawn has it's ordinance against "sagging" (wearing your pants on your hips and exposing your underwear) go into effect.
Pine Lawn joins a number of other cities around the country with this legislation; cities in Georgia, Florida, and Louisiana all have such ordinances, and they are being considered in other areas as well.
The Pine Lawn law prohibits wearing your trousers low enough to expose underwear or skin, and also purportedly prohibits "low rise" jeans for girls. A 100 dollar fine can be imposed, and parents who knowingly allow their children to so dress can be fined as well.


"...the land of the free*, and the home of the brave"
*some rules may apply, see Congress for details

Why don't they outlaw bell bottoms too? When I was a kid I always got mine caught in the chain on my bicycle. It was a real hazzard. I guess Tide and Whisk had big lobby groups back then.

[rwguinn]

I would think that, apart from the amusement factor, law enforcement would find it quite helpful that large chunks of an entire generation and in particular gangbangers choose to wear clothing that prohibits their ability to run away and/or fight. I would think that the crotch of your pants being at knee level or lower would inhibit both of these things as would wearing what looks like a 3X shirt on an M frame.
My feelings exactly--
Which may also be the reason so many of them are armed, unfortunately.

ETA--You can add Dallas, TX to your list of anti-underwear cities...

[Beerina]

I think the Weather Channel newscaster on Family Guy said it best:

"Hey, how are you doing? Remember the '40's? Yeah?"

[TX50]

This will bring the construction/building industry to its knees!

[LawnOven]

There should be laws against wearing your pants too high as well, to balance out the age gap.

No one wants to live next to old people, because we all know that old people have that old person smell.

[chulbert]

In an official statement, the UA has pledged to fight this discriminatory legislation all the way to the United States Supreme Court.

[Almo]

That is REALLY stupid. There are much more important things to write laws about.

[PrincessIneffabelle]

I have a fool-proof way to get "the kids" to stop wearing saggy/baggy/gangsta or skimpy clothing. Every member of the community who is over 40 should dress this way. All the time. Fill the community streets and shops with gratuitous displays of middle-aged mom tummies and dad BVDs.

That'll kill the current fashion quicker than you can say "pullyerpantsup".

[LostAngeles]

You know, I think I might like to move to Pine Lawn or one of these other communities. Frivolous-seeming legislation like this lets me know that there are no other concerns in these communities. The schools, roads, and other services are fantastic. There's no crime, no businesses running scams. Everyone is healthy or getting a appropriate level of care without getting bled dry. Buildings are up to code. It all just sounds really quite fantastic.

I wish we could all live in such a utopia.