The purpose of this document is to analyze a proposal introduced by a common council member to ban “saggy” pants with enforcement of a fine up to $500 and or jail time of up to 30 days. The council member argues that constituents in Albany have complained about the pants being worn below the buttocks, and this style of clothing has created a sense of fear. I will provide a brief history, further identify the problem, demonstrate the criminal justice implications of the policy, provide an alternate solution and conclude with my decision to support or decline the passing of a bill and why.
Back Story
Prisoners have been known to wear saggy pants because belts are normally prohibited attire. Belts have been used “to commit suicide by hanging
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The so what of implications are, cities like those mention above have already concluded fines and other reprimands are not a violation of the constitution as evident by the bills that they passed. This may lead to a spiral of second and third order effects effects negatively. The police who now have to enforce the bills must proactively engage anyone observed in violation. The possibility of what may at a glance appear to be a simple ticket issuance, then escalating to a police shooting is higher. It is procedure for law enforcement to verify a person 's identity and ascertain if any outstanding warrants may exist. The officer who had intentions of writing a ticket may become an arrest situation, the person stopped may already be aware they have a warrant which may cause them to flee or fight. If they flee, a foot pursuit will follow, which will prompt other officers to respond in a vehicle, which could end in the saggy pant wearer being struck by the police auto or other vehicle collision of responders with citizens who were unaware is a possibility. If the saggy pants wearer decides to stay and fight, the officer may find themselves on the losing end of a fight which will raise their elevation of force and may result in a fatality of the subject. All of this because the officer is bound by his duties to enforce a ban on saggy pants. One has no choice but to think to themselves was it worth …show more content…
Furthermore, it will give private business the right to refuse service to those who are in violation. Places of employment may fire those who are not in compliance with their dress code regarding sagging. If found in violation of the aforementioned, law enforcement may respond, to remove the individual or move them along and may only make arrest if the safety of others or the officer exist. The Bill will not prohibit those who are wearing saggy pants to move about in the public. An example of this, if a person is in transit from a friend’s house to another friends house they have the right to travel as they
McCutcheon, Marc. "Clothing and Fashions." The Writer's Guide to Everyday Life from Prohibition Through World War II. Cincinnati: Writer's Digest, 1995. 161-67. Print.
Dress codes can be deceiving as Laura Bates claims her view on school dress codes, “ While the principle of asking students to attend school smartly dressed sounds reasonable, the problem comes when wider sexist attitudes towards women and their bodies are projected on to young women by schools in their attempt to define what constitutes smartness”(Bates, 2015) Within this she is supporting school dress codes, but only to an extent. As soon as the dress code is later seen as sexualizing woman, and what they define as ‘intellectual looking’ she adds certain standards to her claim of supporting dress codes. Now laura bates seems to receive the short end, but other parents seem enlightened when it comes to school uniforms and dress codes. “With uniforms parents and students feel that students are seen for who they are and not by what they do or don’t wear”(McEntire, n.d.). Those who find dress codes beneficial, see the satisfactory within a school uniform, by how the true characteristics of students are seen through actions rather than appearance. Some teachers, and school faculty also see the positive side to school
I feel that in today’s society that men are discriminated against for the way they wear their clothes, specifically, their pants. For many guys sagging your pants are a fashion statement, although many people perceive individuals sagging their pants as “bad” individuals. As a kid, I did wear my pants below my butt, but as I grew older, it gradually raised. I am a professional person, but my style and my comfort have my pants lie just below my hips. I wear a belt, but having my pants all the way above my waist makes me extremely uncomfortable. Even for my wedding, I had to have my pants altered, because tuxedo pants only sit high on the waist. I find it hard to have a law against someone’s choice of fashion, and that one could get fined in some states for sagging your pants. It seems a bit discriminatory when some women can go out barley wearing anything and get fined. The sagging pants law should be eradicated because it is discriminatory and a waste of resources, and instead left up to the community to decide weather they would like to provide services to people who sag their pants.
The stop-and-frisk policy could be considered a big controversy facing New York in recent times. The whole concept behind this stopping-and-frisking is the police officer, with reasonable suspicion of some crime committed or about to be committed, stops a pedestrian, questions them, then if needed frisks the person. This policy started gaining public attention back in 1968 from the Terry v. Ohio case. A police officer saw the three men casing a store and he believed they were going to rob the store; this led to him stopping and frisking them. After frisking them, he found a pistol and took the weapon from the men. The men then cried foul and claimed they were unconstitutionally targeted and frisked.
A variety of North American local governments such as school systems, transit agencies, and including airlines passed laws and regulations against people wearing sagging jeans and although
Life is full of distractions and, for high school students, inappropriate clothing has the potential to grab much attention. However, does the matter of clothing warrant strict rules? I agree that, like alcohol, the students’ attire should have rules regarding whether or not the choices in clothing are suitable for a public school setting. I also agree that violators of school rules should receive punishment for their lack of compliance to the school policies. However, there is a fine line. Some schools, like Carroll High School, are taking dress codes too far. One rule in particular hinders the students’ ability to wear pants with holes in them. It makes sense that holes located in certain places might cause a...
On June 11, 2007, Delcambre Louisiana introduced the first ‘Pull Up Your Pants’ law in America to include a penalty of six months in jail or a $500.00 for weary pants sagging below the waist and revealing a person’s buttocks covered only by an undergarment (Koppel, 2007). This public indecency campaign, directed primarily at African American youth, continues to show intolerance and contempt for this social faction 's form of fashion and cultural expression of low-slung pants. However, Laurel’s city attorney Deidra Bassi of Laurel Mississippi’s 2015 Pull Up Your Pants campaign is concerned this could be perceived and challenged as a violation of civil rights (Howell, K. 2015).
Issues involving the apparel enforcements, including sexism, repressed self- identity, and punishment issues will be discussed within this paper. Literature Review The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the creation of laws offensive to religious groups and ensures their ability to freely practice, grants the freedom of speech, comply the freedom of the press, and allows the right to assemble peacefully. Adopted on December 15, 1791, it has served the United States of America for over one hundred years. Freedom of expression is a controversial topic when applied to the school dress code.
will make you think, for example, the Penguin is put into a Zoo as a
(Wilder 1) “Educators reported a decrease in violence when dress codes were implemented.” (Wilder 1) Every day so many guns are brought to school. If dress codes were implemented in all schools, that number should go down. This dress code requires students to show a belt line.
Law Enforcement policy is designed to help law enforcement agencies cut down on the amount of crime in communities and give structure to the agency. It also helps lessen the number of certain cases in certain areas, as well as from a certain group of people. There are several policies that I disagree with, but there is one policy I will be discussing. Law enforcement officers sometimes stop and frisk people based on gender, race, financial status, and social ranking. It is a very controversial issue because anything dealing with race and ethnicity can cause a lot of disagreement and discord. According to a New York judge on dealing with the stop and frisk laws, "If you got proof of inappropriate racial profiling in a good constitutional case, why don't you bring a lawsuit? You can certainly mark it as related . . . . I am sure I am going to get in trouble for saying it, for $65 you can bring that lawsuit" (Carter, 2013, pp.4). The stop and frisk law is one reason I do not believe in law enforcement profiling. Even though some law enforcement officers allow personal feelings and power to allow them to not follow policy, some policies are not followed morally because I do not feel that officers should be allowed to frisk someone who is innocent and has not committed a crime because it takes the focus off real criminals and onto innocent people; it causes emotional stress. I know because I have been through this several times.
As we cruised around the community, he pointed out countless minor traffic violations, both moving and non-moving, but opted not to make any stops. At this point he stated his main concern was to spot any impaired drivers and get them off the road. Eventually, as we came up behind an older civic (the Civic had a broken brake light) on Centreville Road, the officer stated that he detected the scent of marijuana coming from the Civic. The driver of the Civic noticed Crutchman’s police cruiser behind him and dropped his speed to 5 mph under the posted limit. Officer Crutchman began tailing the vehicle which immediately turned off on the next available road. We proceeded to follow the Civic for a couple of miles. I could tell that Officer Crutchman wanted to make the stop, and I inquired why he hadn’t done so already on account of the Civic’s faulty brake light. He responded that he is cautious about making such stops because he does not want a “new law named after him” on account of the controversy surrounding pretextual stops. It is possible that this careful attitude has developed as a result of the rising public outcry against police and
It is not up for Congressmen and distressed aunts to decide a decision for someone. Just as young teenage daughters covet trendy, short-skirts, there is always disapproval from elders suggesting that the skirt is not appropriate, and shouldn’t be purchased. Yet, are they to decide the wardrobe of this young female for the rest of her life? Ultimately, it is up to the daughter to decide what she wants, what fits right, what looks good, and what will help he...
In the world of fashion, there is denim. It is one of the world’s oldest fabrics, and has been modified and remodelled to go with the latest fashion trends. The first ones who wore this fabric are workers in the California Gold Rush era, designed by Jacob Davis because of its sturdy material that withstood the harsh working conditions. Not just them, even sailors from Italy use this material too as their sailing uniform. Then, it started appearing as an actor’s apparel, and that’s when denim started to become one of a fashion item. People started wearing jeans as part of their daily apparel and even adding their own ideas, such as studs and colouring it with different shades of denim. It doesn’t only stop around that era, but today, they are seen everywhere and has become a major clothing piece for almost all of the age groups. As a reference, we can see young children already wears jeans as part of their clothing, the teenagers added jeans to their wardrobe, and even for the seniors, they consider jeans as a simple and comfortable clothing pieces.
The market for the school uniform business is growing at a record pace (King 3). Public schools are introducing uniforms into the school environment, and Parochial schools are expanding (Allen 2). Yet these school students have to rely on getting the supplies from out of town retailers. Now is the greatest opportunity to open into the school uniform market. Expansion into this market now is an especially good idea due to the resent development of the 'National Goals Program ' in the U.S.A. (pic 1). Among the policies of the reform is the mandatory use of school uniforms (pic 1). Young adults all have the desire and need to fit in with the norm, and the norm today is to be fashionable. Everyone likes to look great and clothing plays a large part in achieving this goal. What of those children who come from families that lack the financial resources to keep their children in the latest expensive styles? Children from less fortunate families may envy other children's clothing, resulting in dire consequences as pointed out by Keith A. King "children have been violently injured or even murdered for their designer clothes, sneakers, or professional sport team paraphernalia". Knowing th...