2008 Woodie Awards
Markman's Musings: Sagging Society
Joe Markman
Issue date: 10/23/07 Section: Editorial/Opinion
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10/23/07 - First came cigarettes. The ordinances against not smoking in public buildings, in restaurants and then bars. Then you couldn't smoke within 50 feet of an entranceway, even in the rain. Now you can be fined for smoking in your apartment, even evicted in some places. Next comes public parks. There will be no smoking in your car whatsoever. Sidewalks and your own home are around the corner.
American society is gradually launching Puritan initiatives as the rest of the world laughs. USA Today reported that when the Virginia House of Representatives tried to outlaw sagging pants two years ago, they drew ridicule from Sydney to London.
It's not the sort of thing that makes one stand on a soapbox and yell about Orwell's vision. It's the sort of thing that makes one question their neighbors. It makes me mad, because while second-hand smoke can cause cancer, outlawing a clothing style is trampling on the First Amendment.
In Opa-locka, Fla., a suburb of Miami, city officials have proposed an ordinance that would ban wearing low-slung pants in city parks, the library and other municipal buildings. Though the proposal carries no fines or jail time, anyone sagging their pants on city property would be forced to leave. Such a proposal forces the question; how long will it be before someone claims wearing green T-shirts is contrary to the interests of their community?
Under the Constitution of the United States, citizens still have the right to freedom of expression. Any law violating that freedom must come under due process by the government. On the issue of due process, Supreme Court Justice William Brennan wrote for a court majority in Texas v. Johnson that, "If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the Government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable."
The idea of clothing style as social expression seems to have escaped the brains behind similar proposed bans in Trenton, N.J., Charlotte, N.C., Dallas, Baltimore, Atlanta and other towns and cities across the country. Penalties range from fines or jail time to warnings. The penalties can be ludicrous, such as 15 days in jail, or more benign. Any punishment for wearing one's clothes a certain way, whether jail time or a $150 fine, is simply unconstitutional.
American society is gradually launching Puritan initiatives as the rest of the world laughs. USA Today reported that when the Virginia House of Representatives tried to outlaw sagging pants two years ago, they drew ridicule from Sydney to London.
It's not the sort of thing that makes one stand on a soapbox and yell about Orwell's vision. It's the sort of thing that makes one question their neighbors. It makes me mad, because while second-hand smoke can cause cancer, outlawing a clothing style is trampling on the First Amendment.
In Opa-locka, Fla., a suburb of Miami, city officials have proposed an ordinance that would ban wearing low-slung pants in city parks, the library and other municipal buildings. Though the proposal carries no fines or jail time, anyone sagging their pants on city property would be forced to leave. Such a proposal forces the question; how long will it be before someone claims wearing green T-shirts is contrary to the interests of their community?
Under the Constitution of the United States, citizens still have the right to freedom of expression. Any law violating that freedom must come under due process by the government. On the issue of due process, Supreme Court Justice William Brennan wrote for a court majority in Texas v. Johnson that, "If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the Government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable."
The idea of clothing style as social expression seems to have escaped the brains behind similar proposed bans in Trenton, N.J., Charlotte, N.C., Dallas, Baltimore, Atlanta and other towns and cities across the country. Penalties range from fines or jail time to warnings. The penalties can be ludicrous, such as 15 days in jail, or more benign. Any punishment for wearing one's clothes a certain way, whether jail time or a $150 fine, is simply unconstitutional.