In 2008, 72 percent of voters in Riviera Beach, FL, passed a ban on pants that ride below the waist exposing skin or underwear. But wait: turns out loose waistbands are a civil liberty. A judge ruled this week that the ordinance violated the 14th amendment of the constitution, because there was no legitimate government interest in the law regulating style.
The city argued that the ban on saggy pants wasn't based on sartorial concerns, but safety concerns, since residents could hide weapons in their loose-fitting clothes. The judge didn't buy that.
Police in various states around the country have cracked down on baggy pants. In Flint, MI, the new chief announced last year that he would begin arresting people with droopy drawers for indecency and make offenders face a $500 fine and up to three months in jail.
In addition to the judge in Florida, the laws have raised the concerns of the ACLU and the NAACP, which worry about the racial implications. They think the baggy ban has the potential to disproportionately target the black community.
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I hate saggy pants like that. I can deal with the waistband of your drawers just showing, but that crap is ridiculous. I will NEVER let either one of my sons walk around like that.
Now that I have ranted. I have to agree that banning that was ridiculous.
1Of course they are targeting the black community. DUH!. I think the ban is rediculous, since when does America have fashion police?
2Alright -- I have seen white, asian, you name it people wearing baggy and saggy jeans. Black people are not the only ones who do this -- so how is it a racist issue if there are other minority races? As soon as one person gets arrested for this who happens to be black...everyone is racist x 100 because of it. Lame.
Anyway, I happen to think wearing saggy ass jeans, no matter what friggen race you are is completely stupid, a hazard, and most of all inappropriate. I don't want to see your crack, or your boxers that say "Suga Daddy" on them. Wear baggy jeans by all means, but don't wear those baggy jeans past your hips, and then secure them to your upper thigh with your belts -- that is just...dumb.
3Its not targeting the black community give me a break, I have seen (and I live in florida) White, Asian, Latino, Indian, and black people wearing their pants like this and what it really is about is exposing ones self.
I have witnessed grown men's pants falling to their ankles in the middle of a grocery store because for one second they lost concentration and their grip on their over sized jeans, I have seen dirty underwear/boxers/and even bare arses exposed to the point where I want to just say "why even bother wearing the pants?" Its also dangerous at times having seen plenty of people trip while wearing and god help us if someone in baggy jeans tries to run out of a burning building and there are people behind them.
4I've seen white, hispanic, asian and black people wearing them in my state too but I live in Oregon LOL.
5I think it's super ridiculous fashion. I wonder why wear pants anyway, just wear the boxer! And it's a hazard for those who wear them since you can almost barely walk too! I've seen a guy wearing that trying to run to cross the street, man, that was very amusing/weird since he's tripping all over himself.
I'm hoping this trend will not last when my son is a young adult (cross finger here).
But as to banning them...errr...that's taking fashion police too literally. That's not right either.
I hate to see it... Hre in france it's getting more and more common but few of us like it because guys doesn't hide their boxers with their teeshirt, you know what i mean ?? We don't care about seeing their a** .
6(sigh) whatever, it's fashion, it'll change...
This makes me cringe. Get a belt!
7You know, I see people walking around who are grabbing their crotch area to hold their jeans up, or who walk with their hand behind them to hold them up from the fact. Seriously, if you have to keep your pants from falling down, it,s time to get a belt (and wear it where it needs to be worn) or perhaps invest in a pair of different jeans that don't actually need to be held up by anything at all.
It's a hazard anywhere -- I mean, God forbid someone jumps over a roller coaster safety gate in the line, and gets their jeans snagged because they sag so far, and end up having a really serious accident. I know falling happens all too often with this epidemic.
I don't think you should be arrested, but maybe simply fining someone for being inappropriate is better. In schools this is probably a predominant issue, and where it needs to be cracked on down so at least the kids who come out of the school system can start to dress appropriately.
8this "style" makes me so angry. PULL UP YOUR PANTS!!!!!!
9I agree that the style is stupid, but I can't believe somebody actually banned it. Does that mean that when I sit down on a bench and reveal a little panty in the back that I could be arrested?? It's impossible to draw the line on something like that.
10At least they have drawers on. It could be so much worse - droopy oversized pants and no drawers to protect your eyes from the heinous buttcrack.
11This look always seems like the person forgot to finish getting dressed.
12Do your pants fall down so that 5 inches of your crack shows? than you wouldnt be under this law. good grief of course there is a "line"
13Do your pants fall down so that 5 inches of your crack shows? than you wouldnt be under this law. good grief of course there is a "line"
14i don't think they are targeting the black community. i live in SoCal and guys of all races wear their pants like that. Thankfully in my area it seems like less guys are wearing their pants like that.
15Yes, I've seen all races wear this RIDICULOUS way. So stupid. I don't understand how someone would think it's attractive. They look so stupid.
What's more is they got this style from convicts! Prisoners don't get belts. Most of the time their pants are too big, hence they look like this. So guys think they'll look like convicts hence they look dangerous. Oh my! How dumb.
16Are we really going to cram more people in jail because of a (stupid) fashion choice?? This is why we far surpass any country with the most people incarcerated. Oy!
17Oh please. This is so ridiculous. It's just clothes.
18Seriously - WHO CARES?! It's just boxers, and it's not like they're making YOU wear them! Get over it.
19It's a stupid style and it just make the people that wear it like that look stupid and ridiculous. If that's the way they want to look, let them. Banning it doesn't make sense, it's just clothes.
20I have deemed this style to be called "Buttloaf" and my kids and I play the "Find the Buttloaf" game whenever we are in the car. They are everywhere-every nationality-and every age. The ACLU needs to get a grip and focus on REAL problems. If a bunch of idiots want to run around with what looks like a loaf of bread stuffed in their undies then we have a right to point and laugh and we do that every day. Yesterday we saw a Asian, a Hispanic and a Black kid all trying to run and catch the bus--all holding their pants so they wouldn't fall down. Two of them did fall. I hope they broke something---I'd love to see that written down in a medical record: Broken arm from stupid buttloaf pants. Too funny for words.
21Wearing your pants in that manner is laughable. Yet, it's one thing to enforce a dress code in schools etc but another to ban a style, because you're afraid of concealed weapons... I don't know about that. So someone wearing more fitted clothing might not be packing? The law shouldn't be able to dictate someone's personal style... People have the right to express their individuality or whatever and... I have the right to mock them.
22Well i gotta say even though it is annoying to look at, at least their butt is covered. What really bothers me is all these young girls running around in shorts so short their butt is literally hanging out, and when i say young girls, i mean like 8-14 yrs old. I live in Florida and i see it all the time, its pretty sad to cause it's usually at normal places like the grocery store and target, or the mall, and they are with their parents! my mom would never of let me out of the house like that! I am only 25 too so i was their age not too long ago, lol
23That's funny cheeky!
I agree with you sidra and anonymous. I hate the look absolutely hate it. I wont allow my daughter to go out like that. However she has the brains to not want to do it anyway. But I've already told her. You can't date a boy like that either. I'm usually pretty open minded about young people expressing themselves but THAT is out of the question!
Anyway, yes I agree that the govt shouldn't be in our wardrobe. However, banning indecent exposure IS necessary. So maybe in THAT way saying this particular look is banned might be more justified.
I'm usually in the mind of giving the people, business, parents, schools etc. and NOT the govt to say what is acceptable.
Finally there's my point.
24Sorry, I'm a bit of a rambler.
25Of course it is going to disproportionally affect the black community.... I only know a handful of white people who wear there pants like that. The rest are from the black community. I have ALWAYS thought that it is indecent and disgusting and never understood why someone would want to look like they just crapped their pants.
26I agree with the Judge government has as much business regulating style as it has regulating our diets even though bad dietary life styles contribute to higher health care costs.
In both cases the problem is not the style or the bad diet those are the results of the problem. IMO the problem is the attitude towards self and life. Once again we try to remedy a problem by attacking it from the tail in stead of the head. When are we going to learn that it doesn't work?
27Well if anyone would like a laugh I wrote and entire article about this called "Look! It's a Buttloaf" which you can find thru my profile. Take a peek!
28Constitutional right or not, those two look like two frickin' morons.
29My husband wears baggy-er pants because they are more comfortable for him and sometimes his boxers show a little bit. I'll admit that it's not as bad as the guys in the picture but still it most cases it's fine. When you're not at work or trying to impress people I think it's fine. We see women's underwear all the time when they are bending over so why should it be different for guys.
30I agree JaimeLeah that boxer bands show all the time and that's just a given you can't keep the damn things in your pants but (not butt) if your entire ass is hanging out IMO it's a bit much but that's just my fashion opinion.
Like I said gov. has no business legislating style but what we can do as a society is answer the cultural trigger that creates such a gangsta/thuggish mentality which is what the gov. is really trying to answer here but in an ass backwards way. We also have to understand the nuances that although the origins of this style may have come out of a gangsta rap culture it has become more main stream, multi ethnic not just African American and is worn now for different reasons no longer just associated with a hard line culture trying to make a statement but maybe as you say simply for comfort.
31rediculous... thats all i have to say. its called freedom of expression and everyone is entitled... who cares if you dont like seeing ass crack or boxers. its not your ass being exposed. people just need to learn to leave sh*t alone.
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