A proposed Pamplico ordinance could signal a change of landscape for the town.
Recently, Pamplico Town Council unanimously approved first reading of an ordinance that would ban the wearing of sagging pants. Violators would face misdemeanor charges should the ordinance get final approval next month.
“It’s ridiculous. ...This is a first step toward getting something done about it,” Mayor Pro Tem Lucius Eaddy said.
A first step toward cracking down on bad fashion — perhaps.
Ridiculous, absolutely.
While it has certainly become trendy for cities across the nation to call in the fashion police on baggy pants perpetrators, enforcing such laws is problematic.
Do we really want our hard-working police officers spending valuable time writing citations or arresting people for wearing low-slung britches?
Then there is the question of personal rights.
Right now, Jasper County in South Carolina is on the cusp of imposing a similar ban and the American Civil Liberties Union is waiting in the wings to challenge it on the basis that such bans infringe on individual expression. And they will have a point.
Across the nation, the war cry on “bustin’ slack” is being led by many a preacher who charge that the wearing of saggy pants is immoral. In our mind, that would make it more of a parental or church concern, and not a legislative issue.
And why ban just baggy pants?
Why not ban the skimpy tops and low-cut blue jeans favored by so many young girls these days? Certainly those show just as much skin. And then there’s the bikini ...
Of course, we aren’t blind to the fact that there are fears that this kind of dress (or undress) is affiliated with gang activity.
But guess what happened in some South American countries where gang-related clothing such as baggy pants were outlawed? The gangsters started wearing formal attire. What do you do then — make it illegal to sport a cumberbund?
Baggy pants are part of the fashion scene for now, as evidenced by designers who custom-cut pants to ride low — sometimes really low — on the waist. The implication in this, of course, is that all kinds of people wear them.
Bad fashion? We think so.
A crime? Definitely not.
With a recent audit report showing negative unrestricted fund balances, we think Pamplico Town Council would better serve their community by focusing efforts on a different kind of belt-tightening.
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