Low-Pants Ban Is High on List

HOUSTON —  In a state where the best Mardi Gras beads go to women who flash their breasts during parades comes a Louisiana legislator who wants to ban low-riding pants that reveal underwear or the “cleft of the buttocks.”

“In our society, we have a line of decency that should not be crossed -- and that line starts around the waist area,” the bill’s sponsor, Democratic state Rep. Derrick Shepherd, said in a recent speech on the House floor.

If the bill becomes law, violators who publicly and “intentionally expose any portion of the pubic hair, cleft of the buttocks or genitals” may face a $175 fine or 24 hours of community service.

The Louisiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union opposes the measure as a violation of free expression and one that is ripe for selective enforcement by police. It constitutes a literal fashion police, said Louisiana ACLU executive director Joe Cook. “It’s stupid. There are more serious problems for the state than sagging pants. It makes us a laughingstock.”

The bill, introduced last month, has been mocked on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” which aired a segment called “Thong of the South.” Headline writers from as far away as Australia are having a field day with lines about “cheeky” legislation and a “crackdown” on low-rise pants.

But supporters of the bill told legislators that the clothing style is no joke.

Some people “purposefully expose their private parts,” said Opelousas, La., Police Chief Larry Caillier. “You’ve taken this in a jovial manner, but you don’t see what we see, you don’t have to look at that.”

Glenn Green -- a city councilman from a New Orleans suburb that has tried to enact a similar ordinance -- said the state “should be able to say what is moral, what is decent and what is acceptable behavior for young people.”

Rep. Danny Martiny, Republican chairman of the House Criminal Justice Committee, agreed with the spirit of the measure but said the law would be unenforceable. “I don’t know that it’s respectful to pay my respects at a funeral without my shirt on, but that’s not illegal; that’s just stupid,” he said. “Government can’t fix everything.”

Despite his reservations, the bill was passed by the committee last week and is awaiting a full vote by the House.