Atlanta task force against saggy pants ban

By Eric Stirgus

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

(Editor's note: This story was published in March 2008.)

A citizens' task force says the Atlanta City Council should stay out of the fashion business --- particularly the idea of punishing people who wear saggy pants.

Instead, the group says, city leaders should counsel young people about other clothing options.

"It needs to be addressed, but not in the way of an ordinance, " said task force co-chair Brenda Muhammad, a member of the Atlanta Board of Education.

Councilman C.T. Martin in August proposed an ordinance banning clothing that exposes undergarments --- especially saggy pants --- because he said it offended some residents and distracts some young people from pursuing academic success.

An early draft of his legislation proposed fines or community service for violators.

The City Council formed a citizens' task force and gave it 180 days to get opinions from Atlantans and make recommendations.

Wednesday, the task force did so. It said an ordinance putting police on the lookout for anyone wearing pants well below the waist was a bad idea.

"Let us not be responsible for building this generational iron curtain pitting young against old based on ideological differences, " said task force member Jarrod Jordan, 27. "I recommend that we table [the idea] indefinitely and concentrate our efforts in bringing about change through discourse and awareness."

The proposed saggy pants ban garnered international attention.

Several cities, such as Baltimore and Hawkinsville in Middle Georgia, have passed ordinances discouraging the fashion trend. The Atlanta school board voted in December to expand a ban on "baggy oversize clothing" that included "sagging shorts or trousers."

Martin said he hopes the debate will encourage more communitywide discussion, particularly among young people, on the issue and others such as obesity. The councilman declined to say Wednesday whether he still believes an ordinance is necessary.

Local officials from the American Civil Liberties Union have vowed to sue the city if it passes any such legislation.

The recommendations will come to the City Council's public safety committee next month. The committee will decide whether any resolutions or ordinances on saggy pants get a vote by the full council.