Pikeville, Tennessee’s city council has passed an ordinance that will, in a couple of months, allow police officers to levy fines on people wearing their pants too low.
Pikeville, Tennessee’s city council has passed an ordinance that will, in a couple of months, allow police officers to levy fines on people wearing their pants too low.
The official line of distinction between OK and offensive is three inches south of the top of the hip.
Anything below that will get the wearer a 25 to 50 dollar penalty.
According to the ordinance, "the exposure of a person's buttocks and genital area or undergarments is offensive and indecent."
Now that the limits of decency have been made clear, the city’s mayor believes that once in effect, the law will be one easy to uphold with little room for debate.
What could come under fire is the council’s authority to establish such a rule in the first place.
A similar ordinance that was instituted in a Louisiana town was challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union who said that how one dresses is protected by the constitution.
The town went ahead with it anyway.
In the case of Pikeville, the saggy pants problem is only one type of indecency being addressed by the new ordinance.
Public urination and lewd sexual acts are also prohibited.
