Hip Hop Rights

I was surprised to learn that quite a few communities have ordinances that ban low-slung pants. One of them -- Pine Lawn, Missouri (which is close to Washington Park, Illinois) has penalties ranging from a $100 fine, with a higher fine and penalties for the parents of the kid with the low-ridin' jeans.

It's one thing to wonder why any governmental body would spend its time on this issue, but it's even harder to verbalize why the ordinance might be wrong. Although some lawyer will eventually write the petition to challenge the ordinance, it will have to assert that low-ridin' jeans are an expression of identity, or that the ordinance is an arbitrary regulation infringing on a life, liberty or property interest.


Of course, the response will be equally interesting. The government will claim that this is some reasonable regulation relating to health, safety and welfare. And, the cops will likely chime in to say that baggy pants allow people to hide weapons. What a waste of time.