bustin' slack/sagging will be outlawed in forsyth...

if julius stroud has his way...

from the macon telegraph:

If a Forsyth man has his way, those who don't keep their pants pulled up to their waists could risk more than tripping over their trousers.
If they are sagging in Forsyth or Monroe County, he thinks they should receive a citation or fine.

Julius Stroud, retired from the military and the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, Tuesday night asked the Monroe County Commission to adopt or amend an indecent exposure ordinance to make it illegal for people to wear sagging pants.

"When I see these young men with their pants down on their hips or lower with their boxer shorts showing, or sometimes the tops of their butts, I tell them to pull them up," he said. "Most of them do. I've done it enough, they see me coming, they pull them up. But some don't. They just look at you.

"What they don't understand is it isn't just a fashion. They go to apply for a job, nobody's going to hire them dressed like that. They need to learn to respect themselves and others by dressing properly. If we enforce this ordinance, we'll be helping them."

Stroud said he has long wished there was a way to make young men wear their pants at their waists. He said the idea of an ordinance came from an article he read in Jet Magazine that described a similar ordinance being enacted by Delcambre, La.

"It has fines up to $500. That may be too much, since it is mostly boys and young men who wear the sagging pants," Stroud said. "Maybe you could give them community service or something. Make them understand they should take pride in their appearance."

Stroud brought the same issue before the Forsyth City Council last month, asking it to adopt an ordinance to outlaw sagging pants. The council referred the request to its ordinance committee.

Councilman Hal Clarke said the committee will discuss the issue at its meeting this morning. He said rather than adopting a new ordinance it may consider amending its current ordinance on indecent exposure to include language addressing sagging pants.

"The problem would be in enforcement. I don't think how people wear their pants is something we want to be dictating, unless they are exposing their naked behinds," Clarke said.

The county commissioners also had reservations about enacting and enforcing such an ordinance, though most agreed with Stroud that they wished young men would keep their pants pulled up.

"A little bit (of a sag) might not be so bad, but when you are standing in line at the store and the guy in front of you reaches down to his ankle for his wallet, that's too much," said Commissioner Jim Peters.

Commissioner Larry Evans said he was afraid the county could face lawsuits if it tried to enforce such an ordinance.

"It would be up to the interpretation of the law enforcement officials if the pants were too low or too much of their behinds showed," Evans said. "We could be sued and have to go all the way to the Supreme Court to decide something like that. We can't afford fighting cases like that."

In the end, the commission referred the question to county attorney Mike Dillon to research if sagging pants would be included in the county's existing ordinance outlawing indecent exposure, and whether such an effort could be enforced.

Commissioner Jim Ham had the last say.

"Would this also cover plumbers?"