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'Pants on the Ground' May Be Foolish, but It's not Illegal

By Bruce Carton

People who like to let your pants sag down so low that your underwear shows, rejoice! A New York state judge has decreed that while you are foolish, you are not illegal. In a recent opinion in People v. Martinez, Criminal Court Judge Ruben Franco held that "[w]hile most of us may consider it distasteful, and indeed foolish, to wear ones pants so low as to expose the underwear ... 'people can dress as they please, wear anything, so long as they do not offend public order and decency.'" The New York Law Journal reports that the defendant, Julio Martinez, had been charged with disorderly conduct based solely on the fact that he wore "his pants down below his buttocks exposing underwear [and] potentially showing private parts." "Potentially?" That seems kind of weak, doesn't it? Anyway, Judge Franco ruled that Martinez's Pants on the Ground hardly "disturbed the public tranquility or violated the public order" in any way. Rather, he observed, "the issuance of this summons appears to be an attempt by one police officer to show his displeasure with a particular style of dress." He added that "the Constitution still leaves some opportunity for people to be foolish if...

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on July 28, 2010 (boomark / email).