Should Baggy Pants Be Banned? image:32969:2::0

According to an article found on Boston.com, several areas are trying to crack down on saggy, baggy pants by penalizing wearers with fines and jail time for exposing their underwear.

A new town ordinance has been established in the Louisiana town of Delcambre: Anyone wearing baggy pants and exposing their under shorts in public are susceptible to a $500 fine and six months in jail.

Proposals in other towns and cities are underway that will penalize wearers of baggy pants with their slipping waistlines, such as Trenton, NJ and Atlanta, GA. While the Delcambre ordinance seems heavy, other city and town proposals are looking at fines and community service to serve as punishment.

In Georgia, Atlanta councilman C.T. Martin believes the sagging pants fashion "has the potential to catch on with elementary school kids, and we want to stop it before it gets there. Teachers have raised questions about what a distraction it is."

It is believed the trend began in prison where belts were not allowed to help secure the baggy, oversized prison attire worn by inmates, thus the slumping backside garb. The trend then became fashion amongst the rapper community where it was found in gangster rap videos before becoming trend to skateboarders. It now runs rampant and the seemingly bad fashion faux pas is found everywhere.

While the laws seem satisfying to some, others believe the idea to ban the baggy pants is racial profiling, and the American Civil Liberties Union agrees with that. "In Atlanta, we see this as racial profiling," said Benetta Standly, statewide organizer for the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia. "It's going to target African-American male youths. There's a fear with people associating the way you dress with crimes being committed."