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Proposal of sagging pants ban in Dallas has "dubious legal merit," expert says
DENTON (UNT), Texas -- This morning, Dallas school trustee Ron Price is expected to address the Dallas City Council with the idea of creating an ordinance to ban people within the city limits from wearing pants that hang well below the waist, according to local news reports. Dr. Kimi King, associate professor of political science at the University of North Texas and an expert on civil rights legislation, says the proposal "is typical of symbolic regulation that has dubious legal merit.""It should come as no surprise that the proposal is coming from someone who understands the educational system because the precedent comes from the public school," she says, noting that the Fort Worth school system enacted such an ordinance last April that is effective for the 2006-2007 academic school year. Schools enact dress codes to maintain order and protect students, she says. But cities have limited legal precedent for such ordinances, she says, although some cities have ordinances restricting nudity or wearing face masks in public. To the extent that the city can show the issue is about public lewdness or criminal activity, then there will be greater justification, she says. "The key will be whether the city can link the limitation to a legitimate reason why they need the limitation," she says. "So in this case, if they are putting forward that it is lewdness, the government has to show that the activity is going on with baggy pants and that they are not just targeting young males. It is one thing to have schools prohibit it because it is linked to hiding contraband or gang-related activity, but it is quite another to say you just do not like the way people look." A judge who has been told the sagging pants have been prohibited to prevent public lewdness would likely question why skimpy halter tops and short shorts are not prohibited, too, under that reasoning, King says. King can be reached on her cell phone at (940) 597-4802.
UNT News Service Phone Number: (940) 565-2108
Contact: Ellen Rossetti (940) 369-7912
Email: erossetti@unt.edu
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