Louisiana May Ban Low-Slung Pants
Fri Apr 23, 7:37 AM ET Add Top Stories - AP to My Yahoo!
BATON ROUGE, La. - People who wear low-slung pants that expose skin or "intimate clothing" would face a fine of up to $500 and possible jail time under a bill filed by a Jefferson Parish lawmaker.
State Rep. Derrick Shepherd said he filed the bill because he was tired of catching glimpses of boxer shorts and G-strings over the lowered belt lines of young adults.
The bill would punish anyone caught wearing low-riding pants with a fine of as much as $500 or as many as six months in jail, or both.
"I'm sick of seeing it," said Shepherd, a first-term legislator. "The community's outraged. And if parents can't do their job, if parents can't regulate what their children wear, then there should be a law."
The bill would be tacked onto the state's obscenity law, which restricts sexual activity in public places and the sale of sexually explicit items.
Joe Cook, head of the American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites)'s Louisiana chapter, said the bill probably does not meet the U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites)'s standard for the prohibition of obscene behavior under the First Amendment.
"What about a woman who is wearing a bathing suit under her garment or she has something like a sarong wrapped around her and it's below her waist," he said. "I can think of a lot of workers, plumbers, who are working and expose their buttocks ..."
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I lived in Louisiana for two months and the nonsense that goes on in their political system goes far beyond being entertaining for the simple rediculousness of things like this. Seriously, am I the only one who thinks there are REAL problems out there. I really hope these people don't think they were elected to solve the horrible sight of underwear crisis. Get back to work asshole! But then again, if he's a Lousiana politician I suppose I'd rather he be distracted with a task like this than working tirelessly on eradicating the rights of the huge percentage of impoverished in Lousiana as the rest of the politicians there seem so hellbent on...then again, wouldn't this law be discriminatory against those who can't afford pants that fit them "properly?" Dumb...just dumb.
I have sent the following email to: larep087@legis.state.la.us
Hi there, my name is Ted (withheld) and I recently read about your proposed bill to create fines and possible jail sentences for those who expose "intimate apparel" from sagging the waist line of their outer layer of clothing. While in puritan times such a venture may have been well appreciated by your constituents I think you need to concentrate on more important tasks at hand. Concentrating your efforts on curing the social ills of "sagging" as it may be commonly referred, is a waste of your state's dwindling resources and time. I highly urge you to forgo the paycheck you will receive as a result of any time you have committed to this effort since any time you have spent on it has not made, nor will it ever make, any significant contribution toward establishing a better society.
Thank You,
Ted (withheld)
