LEESVILLE — The City Council on Monday tabled a proposed ordinance designed to regulate “saggy pants” in public areas.
District 3 member Danny Dowd, sitting in for an absent Mayor Rick Allen, said the motion to accept the ordinance was being tabled so the council could seek more information on the matter.
“We would like to get more input from the public, as well as from the judicial system, before moving forward,” Dowd said. “We will continue reviewing this as a council, and together we will decide if we even want to move forward with this.”
The ordinance, introduced last month, would require “appropriate dress” for people in public areas and would prohibit pants from being worn more than 3 inches below the hips “causing exposure of the person or persons’ undergarments.”
Several residents at Monday’s meeting said they had intended to voice their opposition to the ordinance, including the Rev. Joseph Garner, who submitted a formal letter to the council asking to be included in discussions before its vote.
He said he chose not to speak at Monday’s meeting because he wanted to wait until the ordinance came up at a later date. In his letter Garner called the ordinance “unconstitutionally vague and overbroad.”
Garner wrote that the ordinance would inevitably raise questions about racial profiling.
“ ‘Saggy pants’ is a clothing style typically associated with young African-American males,” he wrote. “If enforced against those who choose this style and not against everyone whose pants may inadvertently sag, it will almost certainly be enforced disproportionately against a particular group of people who will be singled out by law enforcement for nothing more than their attire.”
Other residents said enforcement of the ordinance would burden police officers.
Dowd said that if the council reintroduces the ordinance, the public will be made aware of the date.
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