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.
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.
In a bigger picture, students don’t come to school for a fashion show they come to school for an education. Somewhere along the line some students and parents have forgotten that simple fact. In some districts, like Wilson County Schools, the dress code violations got so out of hand that administration had to threaten suspensions, “During the first six days of the policy change 184 high school students were suspended.” (Creech, 1). The Lima Senior High School campus made the same decision as the Wilson County Schools. On Tuesday January 27, 2009, the Lima City Schools suspended about 164 students for dress code violations. They both knew that their students were having problems following the rules, and since the punishments that were set didn’t affect the students they did the one thing that got the students attention.
...ere not three fingers wide. If I can get penalized for showing too much shoulder, the younger generation of leggings as pants wearers should be punished for detailing their anatomy through spandex. Sure they're completely clothed, but when it comes down to it, I would rather see more skin and less detail. Since this trend is starting so young, we need to bring it to the attention of high school and middle school administrators. Hopefully, the changing of the dress code to eliminate leggings as pants will stamp out any desire to wear them in the younger generations consequently having the trend die out completely.
Gutierrez, T., & Freese, R. J. (1999, April). Benefit or burden? Dress-Down Days . Retrieved April 5, 2005, from http://www.nysscpa.org/cpajournal/1999/0499/Features/F320499.HTM
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).
"How Does a Strict Dress Code Cause Problems for Kids?" Everyday Life. Web. 20 May 2014. .
Dress codes can reduce violence in many different ways. “The National School Board Association estimates that approximately 135,000 guns are brought to America’s 85,000 public schools each day.” (Larry Wilder, Pros of the Dress Code, pg. 1) “Some dress codes require students to have the belt line exposed at all times for fear of guns concealed under clothing.” (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. If this dress codes requires students to show a belt line. Students who bring guns will have a harder time concealing them, and most likely will not bring them.
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...
In the 2015 article on The Atlantic on The Sexism of School Dress Codes, stating that "Many of these protests have criticized the dress codes as sexist in that they unfairly target girls by body-shaming and blaming them for promoting sexual harassment. Documented cases show female students being chastised by school officials, sent home, or barred from attending events like prom." (Zhou, l.) There are more dress code policies for the females compared to the males. For example, girls should not use backless shirts, no spaghetti tops, no crop-tops that exposes the stomach, no short shorts, no miniskirts, etc. Boys on the other hand have no specific dress code policies. Dress codes may come off as sexist for women and they get insulted by it. An article on the problem with dress code from The Daily Princetonian stating "- women are policed so that they are no longer distracting to men, while men, if policed at all, are never told to change for the benefit of the opposite sex. The most prominent example that comes to mind when thinking of male-specific supplements to dress codes relates to sagging pants, an urban trend where pants are worn low to expose many inches worth of boxers. Efforts to ban these practices have never once mentioned how visible boxers would tortuously distract nearby females. Rather, they focus on visible underwear being inappropriate for a learning or work environment.", based on that article, dress codes seem to be a little too specific on what girls should or should not be allowed to wear, while boys only have a few dress code policies to worry
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
will make you think, for example, the Penguin is put into a Zoo as a
Ever since their invention many centuries ago, clothes have been used as a way of communicating. The message communicated relies on a number of factors including the social background of both the communicator and the receiver, and the context in which the message is communicated. Although at times the exact message or symbolism one is trying to portray may not be clear, it is evident that clothing has long been embraced as one of the best ways to project one’s desired personal image to those around them.
America’s school systems seem to have many issues concerning students receiving a quality education without distraction. A current debate argues weather a dress code policy is efficient or takes away from student’s expression. Administrators at schools should regulate a dress code policy because the system improves discipline and student’s attention, reduces social conflict and peer pressure related to appearance, and dress code provides a more serious learning environment.
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...