Sagging, now to be against the law?

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: [email protected] 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)
4,223 views 11 replies
Reply #1 Top
Well said sir, although I'd go even further in my attach on such foolish nonsense, which everywhere in this society, but especially in the South(maybe La. is worst, who knows?)is becoming more apparent day by day. My daughter ran into this gheist at school the other day, about which I inadvertently posted a BLOG. I couldn't help myself. Keep your eyes open, and continue to tell us what you see.
Reply #2 Top
You know, I am all about a respectable amount of modesty in clothing. But legislation of this sort just enters the realm or pure idiocy. It makes me more than a little sick to now that the tax dollars of those in LA are funding this sort of stupidity.
Reply #3 Top
I heard about this on the news this morning. Being from Canada, of course, there were a lot of American jokes regarding it.

I don't really want to see anyone's lack of underwear, but man... can you picture a cop ticketing someone for showing crack?
Reply #4 Top
Man, this guy needs a wake up call.

In my experience, it's not neccesarily a lot of High Schoolers who show thong or crack, but more college age 20-somethings. His comment about parents "not doing their jobs" or whatever is ridiculous. These kids are far away from any influence their parents have on their dress. Maybe next time Mr. Shepherd wears a tie that doesn't match his suit, we should call his mommy and tell her that she should have spent more time teaching him about color coordination. It's purely insulting to young adults as myself. Listen here, D-Shep, we're the ones who are going to be defining the mores of society in just a few short years, probably even less than that. I think we, as a generation, should make wearing bad toupees illegal. No one likes to see them.

Great work on your email, Ted (withheld). I like the part about giving up his paycheck.
Peace,
Chris
Reply #5 Top
Thanks for your comments guys. Jimbo, I will definitely take a look at your blog regarding such tomfoolery.

Chris - word on the toupees, good or bad, they should be illegal (except for cancer patients)....and comeovers too....just shave that ish off man.

I do always enjoy emailing state officials. Sometimes I get responses back that I know must be aggravating to write since they can't come off as the jerkfaces that we can. Power to the People!
Reply #6 Top
I teach high school and recently graduated college. We could always peg a freshmen by how much skin they showed. Thongs showing et cetera. High school students DO show a lot of skin. And its not like they're not told about it. They know. They're just not taught to appreciate modesty. Now, the only way you can legislate morality is to make it a less expensive option. That said, I don't think in this case it is an answer.

My job, I recognize, is to protect the eyes of my brothers in Christ and keep them from stumbling. So I choose to dress modestly. Most of the guys I know think a girl is "trying too hard" when she's dressed like that and it is a turn off because it reads "easy." But it has to go back on the parents and our society. What is the root cause? People will just disregard the law and it will get stricken from the records -- a waste of time and money for too many people. I say we go back to the roots. This won't solve.

Good job T. I'm proud you wrote in on it.
Reply #7 Top
So what are these "roots" we need to go back to?
Reply #8 Top
Are they nappy?
Reply #9 Top
Sounds like a politician with too much time on his hands.

Now a law against plumbers and such showing butt crack...I would vote for that!
Reply #10 Top
Every generation pushes their limits.  I remember girls wearing mini-skirts so short that they couldn't sit down.  It's just another one of those fads.  LA is one of the weirdest states in the union.  You would think that they would have more important things to do than to instill a dress code. 
Reply #11 Top
I think we should have a law requiring plumbers to show butt crack. And yes, KarmaGirl, they do have more important things to do. But it's stuff like this that makes a nice distraction away from much more pressing matters. This seems to be going on in other areas of our government as well. The whole Ten Commandments thing...seriously...both sides of this one need to get back to work and worry about that one later.