New Underwear Law in Virginia
 

This was the puff piece on the news tonight:
I'd like to hear from any Viriginian residents :p

http://www.newsadvance.com/servlet/S...80327432&path=
also: http://democracyforvirginia.typepad....ive_sen_2.html

Virginia legislators have a penchant for introducing bills that do little to address the public’s most pressing concerns. Now comes a Norfolk lawmaker who wants to ban saggy britches.

Never mind that the state’s rivers and air are polluted. Forget about clogged and deteriorating roads and bridges. Ignore prisoners re-entering their communities without job skills. Don’t improve the school system.

We have underwear to worry about.

Del. Algie T. Howell Jr., a Democrat, has filed legislation that would levy a $50 fine on anyone who “exposes his below-waist undergarments in an offensive manner.”

Apparently Mr. Howell doesn’t like saggy britches as a matter of style, one often associated with the hip-hop/rap culture, though he says the bill is not aimed at any particular group.

What if someone’s saggy britches are a matter of weight loss? What if they are hand-me downs from an older sibling? What if a construction worker’s tool belt pulls his britches too low?

The underwear police will be watching.

Actually, most police officers probably have more important things to worry about.

An awful lot of people would like them to enforce “nuisance” laws already on the books, like littering.

When’s the last time you saw an officer pull someone over for trashing the street?

While there’s no question that some people are offended by exposed underwear, and it would be nice, for example, if schools required children to hide their undergarments and take off their hats, it’s pretty hard to enforce an adult dress code across the land.

And why is Mr. Howell focused below the waist? What about Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction? Doesn’t that offend him?

If people want to look stupid, that’s their choice. It’s part of freedom of expression. Besides, even baggy pants have their place. In Lynchburg, for example, one young man fleeing the police was tripped up by his own sagging trousers, broke his leg and was easily apprehended.

Mr. Howell may also be offended by peroxide-bleached hair, mini skirts, midriffs with pierced belly buttons and tank tops. Are they next?

Such Puritanism certainly would have been endorsed in the time of the Pilgrims. Alas, Mr. Howell was born too late.

In his defense, however, if this proposal had been the law of the land a decade ago, Monica Lewinsky might never have shown her thong to Bill Clinton and destroyed a presidency. The world might arguably be a far better place.

Virginia’s lawmakers seem to have a propensity for getting tangled up in people’s private lives. They worry about who’s having sex with whom - from college students to gays and lesbians. Now they want to create a dress code for all.

Most people figured out a long time ago that there’s no point in trying to legislate morality. Mr. Howell and others like him need to stay out of our bedrooms and out of our pants.

Mr. Howell would argue that only public displays of underwear offend him.

He says if you want to show your underwear in your own private home, that’s OK with him.

What a relief.

Are they going to make an exemption for plumbers and construction workers?

Heh, that's what i was thinking. Since you only see plumbers and construciton workers cracks and not their underwear, then i assume this is ok!

Luckily i am commando all the time, hence no chance of underwear exposure... plus i live in Australia - not cloud cuckoo land :p

<-- From Virginia.
<-- Couldn't care less.

The entire thing sounds like it's coming from a racist bigot.

All these nuisance laws are only there to give a law enforcer backup when they approach someone who isn't really doing anything wrong, just annoying other people by their presence.

If a cop can come up to some black youths (who will be the prime target) who are 'just hanging' they can harass them with this and other similar laws to make them move on.
Not that every officer would, but it's there for them to use.
Remember, they got Al Capone on tax laws. Not what they wanted him for but it put him away.

Seems to me the article writer is trying to paint this guy as such, tho he may not be a bigot at all. Maybe you have a greater insight being from Virginia.

When I started reading the article I assumed this guy's issue was more to do with girls thongs showing, not the fellas showing the tops of their boxers. Neither of which really screams "race issue" from where I sit.

How is this racist? Oh...tighty whiteys...I get it. :rolleyes:

I wouldn't say it would be racist... though the writer of the article pointed out the association with rap/r&b. Maybe its the angle the writer was trying to get. In any fact, its just a BS law that won't get enforced.

Racist? Hardly.

Admittedly in my area there aren't a lot of blacks, but there are thousands of mentally challenged white boys running around with pants hanging around their thighs and boxers showing. I suppose it's possible that the style was originated as a "black" thing within the Rap/Hip Hop circles, but like most fads it didn't stay there.

Stupid? Yes.

This isn't the type of thing tax dollars need to be wasted on. Clearly the administration in this area has too much time on their hands if they can sit around and come up with laws like this. Virginia must be a wonderful place to live if there is so little real crime that the lawmakers believe that the police can enforce laws like this.

Hahaha this totally made me laugh :) especially ...i live in westchester..as awful as it is to admit the only blacks that i see around here are the nannys...we do however have "wiggers" ..rich white guys who pretty much try to be what they consider black (while playing golf on the weekends at their country clubs)

everyone knows that it isnt going to get inforced..why even bother?

sounds like a stuffy old man who got tired of seeing his yale bound teenage son dress in baggy jeans hanging off his ass and do-rags while acting like teh next "B-rad"

Complete and utter bullshit. Loss of freedom, control... Big Brother, here we come.

Didn't the Daily Show do a piece on this last year?

that is quite ridiculous, i wonder if he realizes its a waste of time because no one will enforce it most likely

As much as I dislike that pants-around-your-knees thing, this is obviously excess. Del. Algie T. Howell Jr. should be forced to attend taping of MTV's TRL for one year for wasting time, efforts, and resources in this ridiculous attepmt. I hope he contimues to be offended by things like this for the rest of his bitter life.

Boy the law sure is getting out of hand. It seems like they're trying to come up with a law for everything....And as much as some may not want to believe it..Though there may not be exact/direct racial issues with the law there most certainly are discriminitory undertones about that law. Whether direct or indirect. Willy put it pretty good. This is just one more stupid law picking on "deliquents" rather than attempting to tackle the real issues. I suppose they'll be a belt law soon and people will be forced to hire tailors like lawyers to make sure they don't break any pants laws...Thongs will be banned...Hell why don't they just make everybody wear Overalls?! Yeah thats it no danger of me seein someones elastic band on their underwear if they're wearing Overalls! By golly I do believe I'm onto something here!

Asta!!

Just don't wear underwear...

So when the fuck are we gonna stop providing asshole cops with tools to further discriminate us and start making laws that actually fuckin matter? No offense to those of you that are cops but I'm sure we've all been stopped by a cop who was "bored" and just looking for an excuse to pull someone over or stop someone on the street and get em all shook up just for shits n giggles. Stop me if I'm lying. Theres good and bad in just about every group including law enforcement. We could focus on something that will actually make a difference but why oh why would we ever wanna do that?

Asta!!

I'm not saying the law is racist in itself, but the forerunner, this Algie T. Howell Jr. guy, seems to have in for a certain group of people. Don't even try to argue who this is targeting; young black people who wear their pants low and young white people who try to imitate them. If not racist, it certainly ageist. Do you see any middle aged white guys with their whitey tighties showing? Ever seen a soccer mom with pants down around her knees cheering their kid on from the sidelines? I don't want to see this thing passed, as it's discrimination under the guise of a law.

^^^^ Preach on

Asta!!

Quote: How is this racist? Oh...tighty whiteys...I get it.

Ha! That's a good one!

Stupid law, what a waste of taxpayers money. but, wearing a belt or buying pants that fit would solve the problem really.

what is the problem exactly?
so people wear clothes that show their underwear...and?
a girl i know is making baggy jeans with boxers sewn into the top of them so they are one garment...would that count?
i wonder how much legislative time was wasted bringing in this 'law' that'll make no sense at all in year or two when everyone starts wearing highwaisted tight trousers...

Middle aged white guys who feel the need to crack down (pun intended) on anybody who feels like expressing themselves that way offend me, especially when they wear expensive suits and bad hairpieces. Can we get them banned?

Does seeing guys wearing their pants low enough that I can see their underwear annoy me? Yeah. Does it annoy me when girls do it? No. But I'm not trying to stop either group from doing it if they feel like the need to.

&lt;=== Lived in VA for the last 13 years.

Need to change the marketing campaign from "Virginia is for lovers" to "Virginia: All the Arrogance of the North, all the Ignorance of the South."

A pox on idiots at every level of government who waste my time and money with crap like this.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/02/09/lo....ap/index.html
this law wasn't introduced by some bored middle-aged white guy.
now i dunno know what impact that has on the whole race scale, but it still doesn't make this law any less stupid.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/....ap/index.html

more info

they have or tried to pass a similar law in Baton Rouge, LA(or somewhere in LA.. Im pretty sure its Baton Rouge) and I dont know if it passed or not.

that's rediculous, but i agree with demeter, go free balling

As I said in an earlier thread,

Virginia is indeed for Lovers, as long as one is male, the other is female, they are married to each other, the man is on top, and they are trying to concieve a child who will be raised as a Christian.

Anyone ever been to Virginia Beach? If you have, you'll relate. If you haven't, save your time and money and vacation somewhere else. In Virginia Beach, you can't swear. ANYWHERE. There are signs posted, and a $50 fine for each offense. If you're a female, you can't leave the beach/boardwalk area in your bikini. No beer, coolers, frisbees, radios or football on the beach. Locals hate the tourists, tourists hate the locals. But somehow, it's supposed to be a vacation paradise. What a joke. I avoid the oceanfront area at all costs. After visiting beaches in the Caribbean, Hawaii, Australia and Europe, that miserable excuse for a beach we call Virginia Beach is just pathetic.

By the way, there are no strip clubs anywhere in the state. We have "go-go" bars, and the most you'll see are pasties. You can't buy beer on Sunday. Tattoo parlors only recently were allowed to come back to the Hampton Roads area and are heavily regulated.

It seems almost cruel that about one third of the horny young squids in our Navy are stationed here.

-Mikey

Breaking news: After seeing what an uproar they cause by passing such a stupid law, it has been repealed.

btw MikeyChalupa, you can buy beer on Sundays (in certain locales), and there are strip clubs where you can see nipple, but they are membership only clubs.