Florida cops arrest 11 young men for wearing baggy pants

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0911081baggy1.html

You can check out their mugshots at the bottom of the article. I'm sure that racism has nothing to do with this 'crackdown'. :sarcasm:

but illegal?-give me a break. There are no body parts being exposed.

And the same should apply to ass cracks, undergarments or any type of clothing. Ban one, ban 'em all, or more reasonably, ban NONE of them. Last time I checked, clothing and fashion are facets of one's presentation to others, and as such are protected free speech. If there's nothing indecent about tit cracks or cleavage, there is nothing indecent about butt cracks or cleavage, and in this case these men weren't even exposing butt crack, merely undies? I've seen so many thongs peeking up from girls low waist jeans it's ludicrous - and they ain't arresting any hot chicks for that, or for having their tits hanging out all over the place.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw a guy walking down the street with his pants down past his rear and his undershorts hanging out. My first thought was that he should be arrested. There is no excuse for that. It is disgusting.

Just seems to me that it's another weapon that the police can use in their harassment of young black men. God knows they don't have enough locked up, gotta think of ways to arrest even more! Gotta make sure that they have that criminal record!

pants that way. I haven't seen too many young white men with their pants below their butts.

Their pop is almost 70% black. So in this case, white racism doesn't have anything to do with it.

Just like there wasn't racism in apartheid South Africa.

This is political correctness run amok!

-- here we go, one more way to put black kids in jail.

But the power structure in this town is black, not white. Black people can run towns, you know. It happens everyday. :sarcasm:

gcouldn't possibly be racist. Nope. Nothing to see here. Move along.

There may be something to see but it isn't white racism unless the black city fathers were paid off by some white entity somewhere to push it through. How would that work?

It looks more like a community trying to stem a gang problem or maybe they're just fed up with teenagers looking like hell all over the place.

For wearing baseball caps and levis jeans.

lol

Riviera Beach struggles to overcome decades of divisiveness

By Paul Lomartire, Pat Beall

Palm Beach Post Staff Writers

Sunday, July 02, 2006

RIVIERA BEACH — Mayor Michael Brown calls Riviera Beach's waterfront "a bunch of gold that's unmined" — 400 acres fronting the Intracoastal Waterway, plus one of the finest beaches on Florida's east coast.

"It's the only place in the state" like it, developer Bob Healey says.
More: Riviera Beach's major players

From a demographic standpoint alone, he is right:

Riviera Beach is a rare mix of rich and poor, black and white, oceanfront splendor and inner-city squalor — all within 8 square miles.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/business/content/local_news/epaper/2006/07/02/m1a_RBnew1_0702.html

The police are simply enforcing the silly law that the city enacted.

just in case they might think about joining a gang, or showing some skin. I am repulsed by construction/home repair men that show their fanny crack. Next time I see it I'm calling the cops!!

You are disgusting.

The other day I saw some women walking around with out any burqas on!

Where's a soccer stadium and a gun when you need one?

Other than the ordinance that city passed, which ordinance is likely unconstituional.

Do you react similarly when a woman in a short skirt or shorts walks by?

And what is about men's underwear that drives you crazy?

Any other clothes that should warrant arrest?

they were showing i could see it. the charge according to the affadavit: wearing of pants below waist in public.

personally i think kids who walk around like that look ridiculous, but unless they're exposing private parts (or possibly it's an anti-gang action, but i see all kinda kids dressing like that and they're not all gang-bangers), this is just harassment. fashion police with real badges and real guns.

then the boxer shorts would no longer be their undergarments.

:shrug:

Just say they have on swimwear and are headed to the beach! Afterall , it is Florida,right?

i saw a hispanic-looking guy take a swim in his bvd's, and then try to use the suit "dryer" (the thing that spins the water out of swimsuits) to get them dry enough to wear home. i tried explaining to him that it wasn't that kind of dryer, but he didn't speak any english.

maybe there's a market in that town for boxer shorts with mesh lining...?

if they want to show off their underwear that would be the answer.

It is a statement about having your underwear hanging out. It creates a threatening environment for women. I don't want my daughter to have to stand at a busstop at 9pm with a group of men with their pants down.

Assuming she's old enough to have tits, of course. And what, heaven forbid, will you do about these cyclists in tight spandex - OMFG!! And I hope you didn't let her see the Olympics - there were men almost naked, in only tiny little breifs EVERYWHERE!!!

kids have ALWAYS had some rather odd fashion trends...making them illegal is just silly, and could actually be considered unconstitutional- as fashion has generally been about expression, which is also a generally accepted form of "speech", and therefore protected under amendment numero uno.

I don't know what the laws are about showing underwear in public, but I don't think someone would get away with wearing just briefs, would they?

I don't know if the laws revolve around what skin is showing or what type of garment is being shown. If it is the former, then I expect we will be seeing briefs in public soon.

I am uncomfortable about passing laws about fashion trends, too. Personally I just am uncomfortable with someone in briefs at the busstop, and I wonder what law is preventing it now, if there is one.

or between a sports bra and a halter top?

remember hot pants and micro-mini's?

I see your point. Many swimsuits cover less than a lot of underwear.

I wish I knew the criminal code. For example, what if a man stands in a playground in a business suit with his pants down but not doing anything else overtly threatening? Is he just fine, because he is not exposing himself?

What exactly are the rules about clothing in public?

There are some strange lines here, and I am having difficulty understanding exactly where the lines are and how the laws are conceptualized right now.

That is one of the dumbest lines of reasoning I've ever heard.

I am rethinking my position, but not based on your insult.

I guess the freedom to wear the attire of your own choice is one of those we've had to sacrifice in order to be secure.

They can't vote. By any means necessary keep them off the voters' roll.

for juvenile offenders. Maybe somebody bought him. Florida seems to be a cesspool any more.

It shows progress has indeed been made. I'm glad to know that the advances Homeland Security
has made has enabled the local authorities to protect us from having to see boxer shorts. :eyes:





:sarcasm:

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

Riviera Beach is city where African-Americans are in the majority. The Mayor and all but one of the City Council Members are black. The police are simply enforcing a silly law passed by the elected representatives of the people of Riviera Beach.

We are doomed!

It's completely unnecessary.

From a Constitutional standpoint, however, I can't see any way to make it illegal.

What we need to do is start a grssroots movement amongst the famous rappers and hiphoppers to get them to stop this fucking nonsense, and tell their ignorant fans to stop doing it, too.

Said it was a waste of fabric during wartime.

They used it as an excuse to beat up mexican teenagers.

More than one young man after committing a crime has been caught during the chase because his pants hanging down around his ass tripped him up. Another tool in law enforcement's arsenal I'd say.

It's a double-edged sword.

i'm 47, and have a fairly flat ass, and even with a belt my jeans tend to creep down...sometimes when i'm carrying groceries into the house in both hands, i have to walk bow-legged to keep my jeans. from falling down to my knees before i get to the door...i don't always make it. sure- i could put the groceries down and tug my pants up...but then i'd have to pick all those bags up again, i guess. :shrug:
god forbid i'm going to need suspenders...yay.

i just don't get how those kids can stand the way it feels, for one thing- or, how they get them to stay at "half mast" without dropping all the way down...???

I think it creates a hostile environment for women in public places. Especially at night, on a bus or at a busstop.

Sorry, I don't take your argument too seriously.

for your feelings of inadequacy. :)

Seriously, I am having trouble with this one. What laws are used now to prosecute public indecency? Do they have to do with actual skin/parts of the body showing, or are there laws about underwear?

If it has to do with skin, I wonder why we don't already see briefs at the busstop more often.

:argh:

:eyes:

Haven't they heard that rolling around on the ground laughing is a much better deterrent against fashion crime?

why not waste whatever tax dollars are left by putting people in the prison system. jeezusonamackeral, this state and country have gone insane. :crazy:

Since March, to be precise.

"Saggy pants law overwhelmingly approved in Riviera Beach"

By WILLIAM COOPER JR.

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 11, 2008

RIVIERA BEACH — Pull'em up or pay up! That's the order voters gave tonight by overwhelmingly approving Mayor Thomas Masters "saggy pants" law.

"I am thankful to the people who came out and voted their conscience and defined what is indecent in our city," said Masters after hearing the measure won 72 percent of the vote.

Earlier in the day, Masters feared the saggy pants law was going down in defeat based upon an informal exit poll. But that changed as more voters went to the polls, he said.

Masters believes Riviera Beach is the first large city to pass a saggy pants law through an election. Others have been approved by ordinance through a board vote.

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/politics/content/local_news/epaper/2008/03/11/0311rivcharter.html

And neither TSG nor you apparently took the trouble to check out the town demographics.

Am I missing something here?

I guess there's no real crime going on in Florida.

When Mike Moore asked him if he'd cover white collar crime, he said, sure -- but they have to take their shirts off and run.

:rofl:

Whatever happened to freedom of expression?

Doug D.

Isn't that a waste of manpower??? If they truly are gang members, wouldn't you want them wearing their colors (or baggy pants) so they would be easier to keep track of?