Showing posts with label Sansabelt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sansabelt. Show all posts

Monday, April 14, 2008

The ass-backward state. Really.


Louisiana state Sen. Derrick Shepherd is so concerned about young men in droopy pants showing their asses -- or at least their drawers -- to God and everybody that he thinks there ought to be a law.

So he has introduced an anti-droop bill . . . again, says The Associated Press:

While it's been in fashion for years, the saggy-pants look also has been an affront to many authority figures, including state Sen. Derrick Shepherd. After losing a vote on the issue in 2004, Shepherd is again trying to pass legislation to ban droopy trousers.

"All the different municipalities around the state saying they want it tells me that a state ban on this type of idiocy is needed," said Shepherd, D-New Orleans.
[Marrero, actually. -- R21]

About a dozen Louisiana municipalities have enacted or are considering their own bans on "sagging." They reason that those adopting the dress are emulating the beltless look of prison inmates, that baggy clothes could conceal weapons or that exposure of underwear is offensive and just plain indecent.

Not all cities are joining in. St. Martinville Mayor Thomas Nelson said leaders there have decided against a ban, fearing a lawsuit.

"My concern was - don't get me wrong, I'm not for the saggy pants - you're leaving yourself open, especially with the (ACLU)," he said.

Indeed, the American Civil Liberties Union has consistently opposed efforts to ban low-slung pants and helped defeat Shepherd's 2004 effort. The ACLU will oppose it again this year, the head of its Louisiana office, Marjorie Esman said Friday, citing issues of freedom of expression and concerns the law would be used to target black youths.

"I welcome a challenge," Shepherd said. He dismisses complaints that the law violates the First Amendment or that it could be used to target young black men who adopt the fashion.

"I've heard that from some more liberal-minded blacks and some liberal-minded whites," said Shepherd, who is black. "But my counter to that is: Why is it that we believe that young black men or black women, whoever would show themselves in such a manner, can't simply follow the law and pull up their pants?"

The future of his bill is uncertain. Aside from any court challenges, and the Legislature's 59-34 defeat of his last effort, Shepherd faces a new distraction in his fight for moral rectitude. On Thursday, he was indicted on money laundering and fraud charges. Shepherd proclaimed his innocence and will continue serving while fighting the charges.

LOUISIANIANS MUST BE pretty amused by our amusement at just how ass-backward one state can be. Otherwise, they'd be mortified at their own civic, educational and economic ineptitude and insist that their elected representatives worry instead about pulling up Louisiana's abysmal education statistics, pulling out of a vicious cycle of crime and poverty, and pulling in a new culture of excellence and honesty.

And they would make sure the indicted senator from Marerro got a nice pair of day-glo orange Sansabelt pants as a thoughful cell-warming gift. Just the thing for the well-dressed felon.