Pikeville, Tennessee, has become the latest city to push for a saggy-pants ban. A new city ordinance will fine “half-naked” residents for indecent exposure if their pants are sagging more than three inches below their hips.
Several cities across the U.S. have apparently had enough of looking at boxers and briefs, and are now putting their foot down on sagging.
Cities in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia have also created their own laws against saggy pants.
Pikeville Mayor Phil Cagle is the author behind the latest saggy pants ban, which will use small fines to enforce the new ori.
“All I know is, we just don’t want them running around half-naked on our streets,” Cagle said. “That’s the bottom line.”
The new ban will fine citizens $25 the first time they are caught with their pants hanging too low, while the second time could result in a fine of up to $50.
Cagle said he wanted the ordinance to be very specific about the new ban, which led him to spell out the exact number of inches below the hip that would constitute sagging.
“Myself and the City Council, we wanted an ordinance passed in black and white that our officers know what to tolerate and what not to tolerate,” Cagle told the Times Free Press. “Now they know what we expect, and they know how to handle it.”
Cagle also insists that the ban on saggy pants is about more than appearance.
The ordinance states “there is evidence that indicates that wearing sagging pants is injurious to the health of the wearer as it causes improper gait.”
The ordinance does not cite where that information is from, but it is important to note that the wording of the ordinance could include something as simple as tripping over the sagging pants as “injurious to the health of the wearer” caused by an “improper gait.”
The ordinance has not taken effect yet; however, and there is still a possibility that the ban on saggy pants may not be approved.
The city charter requires that all ordinances have three readings before they are passed as law.
According to Cagle, it could take a few months before those readings are completed and the ordinance becomes law.
