Sidebar tries to address legal problems, lawsuits and, obviously, the laws that we ask to have applied when we sue. Sidebar, i.e., its writer, i.e., me, does wander afield here and there, but by and large, it tries to keep you readers abreast of what’s going on out there in the world of law.
So here’s Lowering the Bar with one of the crucial new legal areas developing in the United States. Well, some of the United States. I’d be surprised if we in Northeast cities will have to pay nervous attention to the hang of our pants − or, as the British would say, trousers.
Meanwhile in Florida, Pants Continue to Vex
As the nation wrestles with difficult issues of race, violence, civil rights, and foreign entanglements, one community has yet another seemingly intractable problem to deal with: saggy pants.
Actually, as long-time readers will know, many American communities have struggled with the low-pants problem over the years. Just a quick search shows close to a dozen posts on pants-related legislative efforts in Tennesee, Michigan, Georgia, Louisiana, and especially Florida. Of course there are constitutional implications, such as those I pestered the Michigan ACLU about in 2008. But my consistent theme, really, has been to wonder whether this admittedly heinous fashion offense is worth legislating about.
Officials in Ocala, Florida, are probably also wondering that this week. About a month ago, Ocala’s city council joined the fight by passing an ordinance that bans the wearing of pants that sag enough to show one’s undergarments.
Here’s the entire piece, as ever worth a read, particular for Kevin Underhill’s devastatingly thorough, even legalistic, analysis of Florida’s saggy pants ordinance: Meanwhile in Florida, Pants Continue to Vex – Lowering the Bar.
P.S. I can’t figure out what category to place this in. Civil rights? Personal injury? I don’t know.