For a man facing an indictment and serious jail time, it is amazing that State Senator Derrick Shepherd (D-Marrero) is still concerned about the wardrobe of young people in our state. He is so outraged about “saggy pants” that he is trying to pass a statewide law banning the fashion faux pas.
It is bad enough that some municipalities have passed laws banning low riding pants, but it is ridiculous to think that the State of Louisiana needs to pass a law on this issue. Don’t our legislators have better things to worry about? With all of our problems why are Shepherd and his colleagues trying to mandate fashion tastes?
Shepherd should be worrying about his defense strategies and the charges he is facing. His fellow legislators need to be focused on the major problems the state is confronting. Our challenges are too numerous to list, but it is safe to say that “saggy pants” do not make our list of the top ten thousand problems facing Louisiana.
I agree that it looks ridiculous for youngsters to be roaming the streets with their boxers exposed and their pants dragging on the ground. However, this is an issue for parents and school administrators to address, not law enforcement. Parents should not allow their youngsters to leave the house looking so foolish and school administrators need to make it clear that there are dress codes in school. These are the best ways to deal with the rebellious clothing styles of misguided young people.
It is not an issue that law enforcement should be saddled with because we do not want to make our deputies “fashion police.” Our police should be dealing with violent crime which is prevalent across the state. A recent study just named Louisiana as the second most dangerous state in the nation. With such a terrible problem, it is crazy to make our law enforcement personnel arrest or ticket fashion offenders, which will just be a distraction from their battle against violent crime.
This bill needs to face extinction in the Louisiana Legislature. Senator Shepherd has been working on this issue for four years. He needs to move on and stop wasting valuable legislative time on such trivia. Our problems are too great and the time is short.
This issue is another reason why legislators should not be made full time politicians and paid over $100,000 per year in salary and benefits. Imagine the damage politicians like Derrick Shepherd could do working in Baton Rouge year round. The part-time legislature causes enough trouble, trying to pass way too many laws that infringe on the liberties of the citizens of Louisiana. The “saggy pants” bill shows clearly why legislators are not under-paid and why a part-time legislature is best for our state.
Jeff Crouere is a native of New Orleans, LA and he is the host of a Louisiana based program, “Ringside Politics,” which airs at 7:30 p.m. Fri. and 10:00 p.m. Sun. on WLAE-TV 32, a PBS station, and 7 till 11 a.m. weekdays on WGSO 990 AM in New Orleans and the Northshore. For more information, visit his web site at www.ringsidepolitics.com. E-mail him at jeff@ringsidepolitics.com.
I agree the Senator has other problems, but I applaud his willingness to take on this issue of sagging pants. It is more of a problem than some understand, and those who have tried to mount a fight against it have been short sighted. I see three primary reasons why sagging pants should be banned and I want to mention them starting with least important: 3) Indecency. It is not acceptable in our society to walk around with your butt hanging out…underwear is underwear, meaning it is to be worn under another garment. Showing even a hint of ones underwear is a reflection of being un-kept…at least unprepared. Dressing yourself using underwear as a fashion statement, or flaunting and exhibiting underwear to mock society in someway, especially when you’re holding your pants up with one hand is flat out stupid. The wasted motion to pull your pants up every two or three steps does not make sense. 2) There are rules of decency, and if society needs to restate them periodically, it should. Walking around showing your butt is about as low as you can go, except turning to predatory behavior, and the resemblance of this dress to prison issue would indicate the wearer is a step away from turning somehow…predator or prey. And finally, 1) It is a Health Hazard. Underwear is intended to catch that last little bit of sh-t that you miss with the tissue, or that accumulates over the course of the day. It does not have to be hot outside for the human body to generate perspiration…a small amount of sh-t dilutes with that sweat, and your underwear catches it, as designed. If your pants are up, serving as the next barrier, all is well. If not, when you sit down in a chair…Bam! That’s sh-t on the chair. Perhaps very small amounts, but sh-t just the same. Public transportation…restaurants…sporting events…other gatherings. The next person to take that seat puts his hand down in the chair to balance before sitting, and before he knows it his hand is somewhere on his face…Bam! That’s right, Eating sh-t! That’s the Health Hazard, and society should protect itself…restraint from public buildings and transportation, fines, jail time are all acceptable to me. Written by OA
on 4/15/2008
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I don't know RW.............. If you take it a step farther, look at the current Detroit mayor, in fact look at D.C.'s Marion Barry instead of the D.C. Madam, in fact look at NAGUYN...... SMART COOKIE THAT CHOCOLATE SURPRISE IS........ KEEP IT BELOW 25% and forget morals or values, HEY ITS LEGAL!!!!!!!!!! Yes, death by chocolate is a potent dish.......... It makes this big blue marble just spin round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and round and ooooppppppppppsssssssssssss!!!!! It got a flat tire, quick man the pumps so we can keep the inflation up!!!!!!!! We wouldn't want a recession back to the old ways!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Written by Love those economic gurus we pay $$$$$$$$$$ 4
on 4/15/2008
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Jeff, dear, you are getting a bit desperate to write about baggy pants. Write about something more indicative of improvement - SUNO has adopted the new standards for admissions as set forth by the Board of Regents. Until we start making students achieve and provide for the means of achievement, they will be roaming the streets in baggy pants or whatever, oh yes, guns. Come now Jeff. Look at the important and not the mediocre. Written by RhettsWife
on 4/14/2008
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oH, AND wENDY, Is U dIssInG pROfESsor LONghAIr? Wut's rong wit da Long haiRs??? Written by .......If you got it, grow it.........or show it,
on 4/14/2008
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Oh Lord Wendy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That wuz one of the dumbest dissertations I have read in a long time. Saggy pants were around for decades before HiP HopP..... Basically it is a fashion statement that has its roots in the fact that many children 'in the day' wore 'hand me downs' and subsequently (or is it consequently, seems there are consiquences fer evreeetings) the younger had older broters briches on, and dey wuld sort of sag........................SUMTIMES DOWN 'ROUN DA BOTTOMES OF DA DERRIERS....... Wendy my dear, you do need to get out a little more often and 'broaden' your exposureS (Nayuck-nuck-nuck-, 'broad-en') in life a little more..... DOWN WITH POLITICIANS THAT DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE NEEDS OF THE AMERICAN PUBLIC AND PUT THEM IN EVEN WORSENING CONDITIONS THROUGH THERE INEPT UNDERSTANDING OF THINGS!!!!!!! Written by I bet you think voodoo's only a Na'wlens ting
on 4/14/2008
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I agree with you that Derrick Shepherd should be more concerned with his indictment (and possible long jail term) on money-laundering charges than with punishing our state's young black kids with stiff fines for exposing their boxers, when they wear their pants so low that they risk tripping over their pants' hems. This trend should really be dealt with by parents and teachers (and a trip to the nearest department store's young men's section, complete with an introduction to a tailor or salesperson who can help these kids with their questions about how to dress stylishly, without looking foolish.) I understand that the baggy pants/boxers trend came from rap and hip-hop stars, but what's fine for rap and hip-hop stars won't "fly" with parents and teachers who see drooping pants and exposed boxers on teenaged boys as disgusting and tasteless. While teenagers use the latest fashions as rebellion (remember bell-bottoms and long hair??), and grow out of them, as their tastes change, or as they change from high school to college age to working world, their parents and teachers cringe at how awful these fashions look on their teenagers, and what they say about those who wear them. To speak up, and be a parent, and to help shape a teenager's sense of style is part of the parenting "package," it seems to me. If it means getting you and your kid to a young men's department store, for a good fitting session, and lessons on how to wear clothes properly, and take care of them, then that's what it takes. Lessons like this are what will take a teenaged young man from high school to college, and into the working world. He can have the best GPA score, pass the LEAP test on the first try each time, and pass the public school system's Graduate Exit Exam with flying colors, then be his class' valedictorian, but wearing the same kinds of clothes he wore in high school, without "graduating" to college-age clothing will do little to convince prospective employers that he's "employable." Written by Wendy King
on 4/14/2008
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Well, that's the trade off in hopes of a pardon and a slap on the back for being so conscientious!!!!!!!! I HAVE SEEN THE WAY!!!!!!!!! I HAVE A DREAM!!!!!! (As he works both sides of the isle) Dayammmmmmmmmmmmmm wheres an applicable race card when its needed????????? (As he desperately hopes to bury this thing)........ Written by But coach, I is not smaht enuf ta remembers da pla
on 4/14/2008
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For a man facing an indictment and serious jail time, it is amazing that State Senator Derrick Shepherd (D-Marrero) is still concerned about the wardrobe of young people in our state. He is so outraged about “saggy pants” that he is trying to pass a statewide law banning the fashion faux pas. 
