DOCUMENT: Stupid, Crime

Caught With His Pants Down

Florida man nabbed for violating city's new baggy trouser ordinance

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Caught With His Pants Down

SEPTEMBER 3--Meet Kenneth Smith.

The Florida man, 29, was arrested yesterday for wearing baggy pants. Smith was busted by Riviera Beach cops for violating a city ordinance governing low-slung trousers (or, legally speaking, "exposure of undergarment in public").

According to a Riviera Beach Police Department affidavit, cops were investigating a report of a man selling drugs from a parked Chevy Impala when they spotted Smith standing beside the vehicle. As Officer B. Jackson noted in the report, Smith's brown and white plaid shorts "were so low that it exposed his blue and white boxer shorts approximately two inches below his waist." Smith, who was also charged with disorderly conduct, could be fined up to $150 on the pants charge.

In a bid to criminalize a fashion style popularized by urban youth and hip-hop fans, Riviera Beach voters approved the new ordinance earlier this year. While first offenders like Smith only face a monetary hit, if a baggy pants devotee gets nabbed more than once, he/she could face up to 30 days in jail. (3 pages)

Comments (1)

What bothers me so much is the fact is that most of the VOTERS are the ones who put these laws on the books and the ones who are "Whining and Crying", so much don't bother to DON'T VOTE let alone read the the paper on when to bother to put on those pants and VOTE.