Delta Burkha
A Louisiana idiot, uh, legislator, wants to make Louisiana a fashion police state, reports Michelle Krupa, in the Times-Picayune. Rep. Derrick Shepherd, D-Marrero, is proposing legislation (House Bill 1626) that would punish anybody wearing low-riding pants -- a $500 fine or six months in jail, or both. He sponsored the bill "because he was tired of catching glimpses of boxer shorts and G-strings over the low-slung belt lines of young adults." Now, I must confess, when I see a girl waddling around in a baby tee with fat handles hanging over the waistband of her pants, I'm the first one to see "there ought to be a law." That said, I don't go out and write up a bill about it. (Besides, running away screaming usually gets the point across so much better.) Hello? This guy is a congressman, and so are the other twits signing on to support. Is The First Amendment really a foreign concept for these people? Scary!
(via Romenesko's Obscure Store)
I have two 14-year-old girls here with me, to whom I just read this item. Their comments: "Are you kidding? Why?" and "I think we should give him a fine for wearing his pants too high."
nancy at April 23, 2004 7:05 AM
that really is ubbelievable! soon, girls in school are going to have to start getting one their knees to measure skirt lenghts again. i think the way some kids dress is awfully slutty, but the fine for them would be for their parents to pay, and since most of these kids change once they leave the house, that't not really fair. and if an adult wants to dress like a slut, then more power to them. i don't like the idea of having someone tell me what i can and can't wear. my mother can't even do that! i agree with you amy, running away barfing should be enough, unfortunately, most think we're barfing because of someone else.
lauren at April 23, 2004 11:22 AM
How about a Constitutional Amendment that requires the legislator who introduces a bill that a State/Federal Supreme court rules unconstitutional personally pay for all legal costs of introducing, passing and enforcing that law? Make the politicians get personally bonded by private insurance firms- it would weed out the kooks.
That would probably protect our freedoms far more than a flag burning/prayer in school/no gay marriage/anti-abortion amendment.
eric at April 23, 2004 11:44 AM
"That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves."
Thomas Jefferson
eric at April 23, 2004 12:27 PM
Let me be the first to question Rep. Shepherd's manhood. Tired of seeing g-strings on young adults?
Sorry, but that concept simply does not compute.
LYT at April 23, 2004 2:04 PM
You might take a look at the parish this guy represents. He's a biblethumper, choir singing guy from way back and LMC African Americans are his constitutants. Louisiana state politics don't include action for anything really meaningful (industrial pollution, drunk driving deaths), so it's thongs. I'm not suggesting that this proposed legislatin isn't nutty, but he's in Louisiana, not Santa Monica. It's different world.
KateCoe at April 26, 2004 7:23 AM
It's not "Scary!" It's just dumb. You spook too easily. Santa Monica certainly has it's twisted obsessions as well: Meet me for a smoke at the pier and we'll sort it out.
Crid at April 26, 2004 9:49 AM
i heard about this this morning on the "news" on a local radio station. #1 - this is just plain scary. i can see it now. give us 20 years and we'll all be wearing veils over our faces and face execution if a hair slips out from behind our swaths. #2 - the local dj, kennedy, wondered how the state who gave us brittney spears could possibly enforce any dress code.
*tami* at April 27, 2004 2:09 PM