kaorder1999
08-23-2006, 09:41 AM
A city crackdown on saggy pants?
Dallas: Critics defend their right to wear drawers that droop
07:19 AM CDT on Wednesday, August 23, 2006
By TAWNELL D. HOBBS / The Dallas Morning News
The hip trend of wearing saggy pants could be at risk on the streets of Dallas.
Dallas school trustee Ron Price, with the backing of several City Council members, wants to prohibit pants that hang well below the waist. He wants an ordinance banning the look within city limits.
Mr. Price plans to address the council at today's meeting at 9 a.m. at City Hall. He said he's fed up with people who walk the streets "with their pants below their buttocks with their underwear exposed."
Several council members backed the idea Tuesday, with Bill Blaydes declaring, "It's an embarrassment to our city if we can't keep our pants up."
Mr. Price said he wants the city to create an ordinance or strengthen one that prohibits public lewdness. Such a rule would affect mainly young adults and children, some of whom get their pants several sizes too big to achieve the saggy effect.
"To me, it's disrespectful and dishonorable to women for men to walk around with their bottoms showing," Mr. Price said.
Assistant City Attorney Jesus Toscano said the city would need to research the legality of such an ordinance.
An official with the American Civil Liberties Union called it silly.
"Is it a civil liberties issue? I don't know," said Lisa Graybill, legal director for the ACLU of Texas.
"It's a silly issue, I know that."
She said that any ordinance would have to apply equally to males and females. However, she said, enforcement would probably focus on males, who are more likely to wear sagging pants.
"Why can't people just look away?" she said.
In recent years, lawmakers in Louisiana and Virginia have tried to ban sagging pants, but the efforts went nowhere, Ms. Graybill said.
The Dallas school district already prohibits pants that droop below the waistline. But Mr. Price – who's rumored to be considering a run for City Council – said it's time for the issue to be addressed citywide, saying that people shouldn't run around "like third-class citizens in a first-class city."
Council member Maxine Thornton-Reese favors a ban.
"I would like to support any ordinance or anything that would help them not to expose themselves," Dr. Thornton-Reese said.
Council member Linda Koop said she'd prefer not to see young people with their underwear showing. Council member Pauline Medrano said that while she'd love to see such a ban, she doesn't know whether the city could legislate such behavior.
Staff writers Kent Fischer and Dave Levinthal contributed to this report.
Dallas: Critics defend their right to wear drawers that droop
07:19 AM CDT on Wednesday, August 23, 2006
By TAWNELL D. HOBBS / The Dallas Morning News
The hip trend of wearing saggy pants could be at risk on the streets of Dallas.
Dallas school trustee Ron Price, with the backing of several City Council members, wants to prohibit pants that hang well below the waist. He wants an ordinance banning the look within city limits.
Mr. Price plans to address the council at today's meeting at 9 a.m. at City Hall. He said he's fed up with people who walk the streets "with their pants below their buttocks with their underwear exposed."
Several council members backed the idea Tuesday, with Bill Blaydes declaring, "It's an embarrassment to our city if we can't keep our pants up."
Mr. Price said he wants the city to create an ordinance or strengthen one that prohibits public lewdness. Such a rule would affect mainly young adults and children, some of whom get their pants several sizes too big to achieve the saggy effect.
"To me, it's disrespectful and dishonorable to women for men to walk around with their bottoms showing," Mr. Price said.
Assistant City Attorney Jesus Toscano said the city would need to research the legality of such an ordinance.
An official with the American Civil Liberties Union called it silly.
"Is it a civil liberties issue? I don't know," said Lisa Graybill, legal director for the ACLU of Texas.
"It's a silly issue, I know that."
She said that any ordinance would have to apply equally to males and females. However, she said, enforcement would probably focus on males, who are more likely to wear sagging pants.
"Why can't people just look away?" she said.
In recent years, lawmakers in Louisiana and Virginia have tried to ban sagging pants, but the efforts went nowhere, Ms. Graybill said.
The Dallas school district already prohibits pants that droop below the waistline. But Mr. Price – who's rumored to be considering a run for City Council – said it's time for the issue to be addressed citywide, saying that people shouldn't run around "like third-class citizens in a first-class city."
Council member Maxine Thornton-Reese favors a ban.
"I would like to support any ordinance or anything that would help them not to expose themselves," Dr. Thornton-Reese said.
Council member Linda Koop said she'd prefer not to see young people with their underwear showing. Council member Pauline Medrano said that while she'd love to see such a ban, she doesn't know whether the city could legislate such behavior.
Staff writers Kent Fischer and Dave Levinthal contributed to this report.