FL: Judge tosses saggy pants ordinance
Another case of the judiciary overriding the democratically expressed will of the people on the flimsiest of grounds:
"A Florida judge has tossed a town’s ordinance that made wearing pants below the waist an offense punishable with a fine. Palm Beach County Judge Laura Johnson ruled Riviera Beach’s ordinance against saggy pants — which was approved by 72 percent of city voters in a March 2008 referendum — is unconstitutional ….
Johnson ruled that wearing saggy pants — defined in the ordinance as wearing pants below the waist while exposing skin or underwear — is protected under the liberties guaranteed by the 14th Amendment, no matter how ‘tacky or distasteful’ the fashion choice may be.”
Source
The 14th Amendement protects "privileges or immunities" of U.S. citizens. Who would have thought that saggy pants came under that? The writers of the 14th certainly did not have saggy pants in mind when they wrote it. So what would NOT be protected by the 14th? Do US citizens have the "privilege and immunity" to announce loudly in public "homosexuals are abhorrent to God"? If not, why not? I am sure Michael Marcavage would like to know.
7 comments:
Why does every comparison have to come back to homosexuals (no pun intended)-?
Unless we're talking about nudity, towns shouldn't be regulating fashion. Fashion is a form of free speech.
Bobby, we are talking about partial nudity in many of these cases, something that is clearly offensive to many people in public. And voters, via a referendum, have the right to regulate the areas they live in. This decision will be overturned.
Here is the factual answer. Judge Johnson is black, as are the saggy-pants wearer's of Riveria Beach, a predominately black high-crime area east of Lake Worth. The 72 percent of the voters who approved this referendum should now get together and have this judge removed from the bench.
Saggy pants reveal the underwear, not a bare ass, thus it's not really nudity.
I know the motivations of Judge Johnson, he associates that behavior with gangs, just like some people see goth kids and immediately think "Columbine."
Fashion is a way we express to the world who we are, from the christian who wears a "save sex for marriage" t-shirt to the jock who wears the colors of his favorite team and yet, to the freaks, goths, geeks, that express their uniqueness, fashion allows us to say "this is who I am" and attract those like minded souls.
What if the ordinance had been about banning people from wearing the confederate flag? Some schools have tried that and they've been sued.
This is an issue that doesn't need to be legislated, if you own a McDonalds and a kid shows up with saggy pants, you can tell him to pull up his pants. Parents, teachers and others can also encourage good behavior. We don't need our police officer becoming the fashion police.
Most of the Cops that I know, LOVE saggy pants on a perp! Saggy pants on a guy are the equivalent of a long tight skirt on a gal. And either makes it impossible to run fast, without pulling them up. And if you try to run with saggy pants, while holding them up with one hand, your running won’t be a fast as it would be if your pants were at a decent height!
And if any law is passed against showing underwear, what will the gals do with their thongs that ride above their pants? And then again the law can be gotten around very easily. Just wear Boxer Style swim trunks. And the law becomes useless, since to arrest guy wearing saggy pants with swim trunks under them, would mean that women that wear a wrap around their lower body over a swimsuit would also become illegal.
And then there is the FUN!!!!! By law cops on a quick frisk, can only search the area above the waist band of the pants! So on some searches, the guy balls are grabbed, since they are above the Pants!
Mobius
If you don't like saggy pants, then don't wear them.
I happen to live in Lake Worth, FL. The people this law a intended to effect dont usually wear underwear. So the fact that their wife beater tanktop only goes to their actual waist and the fact that their pants sag half way off their ass, means that their ass crack is exposed for all to see. And you would be surprise at how fast a crack head can run whilst holding up their pants, definitely faster than most cops I know.
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