Fighting The Saggy Pants Scourge. Again.

SEPTEMBER 7--In a strike against the creeping municipal menace of sagging pants and skirts, a Georgia mayor today signed an ordinance that will allow cops to fine violators caught exposing a hint of underwear.

The new law will crack down on those caught wearing droopy drawers in the city of Dublin, where Mayor Phil Best this morning signed into law the ordinance passed last week by the city council.

The ordinance, a copy of which you’ll find here, amends the existing law covering public indecency. The revised law contends that, “there is evidence that wearing sagging pants is injurious to the health of the wearer as it causes an improper gait.” Additionally, “the City has received reports of sagging baggy pants being used to facilitate theft crimes.”

A person can be cited for public indecency if they are spotted “wearing pants or skirts more than three inches below the top of the hips (crest of the ilium) exposing the skin or undergarments.” First-time violators of the saggy pants prohibition face a $25 fine, while repeat offenders will be hit with a $200 levy.

A similar saggy pants ban ordinance passed by voters in Riviera Beach, Florida was ruled unconstitutional in 2008 (but not before more than a dozen busts). (2 pages)