Virginia Legislators Want A Ban On Sagging Clothing

Article written by: Rodrick Rainey
Posted on: February 8, 2005

A Norfolk, Va., legislator says the droopy-drawers bill may be his legacy.

The Virginia House of Delegates has tentatively approved a bill to crack down on people who wear low-riding pants.

Freshman Norfolk Delegate Algie Howell Jr. introduced the bill at the urging of constituents who are offended by the exposed underwear.

Howell said, “That’s why they’re called undergarments. They’re supposed to be worn under something else.”

Virginians who wear their pants so low their underwear shows may want to think about investing in a stronger belt. Delegates approved a measure that would allow police to assess a $50 fine on anyone who exposes their below-waist underpants in a “lewd or indecent manner.”

Howell said that since he introduced it last month, he’s been deluged with calls and e-mails about the issue, mostly positive.

Howell told The Virginian-Pilot that he kept hearing from customers in his barber shop that something needed to be done about young people who wear their pants around their knees, exposing their underwear.

When a House subcommittee took up the matter, the response was sympathetic yet skeptical because of legal issues.

It’s going to the House floor for a vote.

Del. Lionell Spruill Sr., a Democrat who opposed the bill, had pleaded with his colleagues to remember their own youthful fashion follies.

During an extended monologue Monday, he talked about how they dressed or wore their hair in their teens. On Tuesday, he said the measure was an unconstitutional attack on young blacks that would force parents to take off work to accompany their children to court just for making a fashion statement.

“This is a foolish bill, Mr. Speaker, because it will hurt so many,” Spruill said before the measure was approved 60-34. It now goes to the state Senate.

The bill’s sponsor, Del. Algie T. Howell, has said constituents were offended by the exposed underwear. He did not speak on the floor Tuesday.

Spruill and Howell, also a Democrat, are both black.