Saggy Pants Ban Challenged by NAACP

Ocala residents may be able to once again don pants that droop below their waistlines on property owned by the city if the NAACP has its way.

The city’s recently passed ban on pants that fall 2 inches or more below a person’s natural waistline has caught the attention of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Click Orlando is reporting. The civil rights group sees the ordinance as discriminatory and says it’s unconstitutional.

“I’m sorry, it’s going to be black males that are the subject of this,” the station quoted Dale Landry of the Florida NAACP chapter as saying.

The city was informed Tuesday the organization intended to bring legal action if the new law wasn’t repealed. Even so, the council opted against repealing the ordinance during its Tuesday night meeting, WCJB reported.

“Basically, they’re just dressed in an improper social way and so now, you have reason to, or probable cause to come up to them and start searching them, which will lead to many other things and all we have to do is look at St. Louis,” the Rev. Reginald Willis, Sr., of the NAACP’s Marion County Chapter told the station.

Ocala’s new rules went on the books in mid-July. The ordinance was passed unanimously by the city council. The law affixes a fine up to $500 and possible jail time for wearing baggy pants on city-owned property.

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See Also: Ocala Cracks Down on Saggy Pants