News-Record.com

Here's one for the Dumb Idea File:

Legislation against baggy pants. On the city and even the state level.

Some cases in point:

-- Delcambre, La., near Baton Rouge, where dwearing droopy pants will net you a fine of as much as $500 or up to six months in jail. “We used to wear long hair, but I don’t think our trends were ever as bad as sagging,” Mayor Carol Broussard otld The New York Times..

-- Mansfield, La.,near Shreveport, where the fines run as high as $150 (plus court costs) or up to 15 days in jail. The law took effect on Sept. 15.

-- Hawkinsville Ga., where anyone who appears in public "wearing pants or shorts below the waist, which expose the skin or undergarments" gets a maximum fine of $500 and 80 hours of community service.

-- Opa-Locka, Fla. which banned sagging pants at all city-owned places on Thursday. You won't go to jail or have to pay a fine. They'll simply kick you off the premises.

Atlanta could be next.

Now, I'm as against droopy trousers as the next guy. It's not only unsightly, but it's impractical. A guy can't walk very far with his beltline around his knees.

But on the cosmic scale of societal ills ... gimme a break.

Hawkinsville has been beset by major job losses. Atlanta is on the verge of running out of water.

City and state leaders really ought to be raising their sights on more important peiorities rather than obsessing over lower waist lines.