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You may not like seeing thugged-out kids walking around with their drawers hanging out of their sagging trousers, but it's their Constitutional right to show their skivvies if they want to.

So says Palm Beach County Judge Laura Johnson. She ruled this week that Riviera Beach, Fla.'s saggy pants law is unconstitutional. Despite how "tacky or distasteful" saggy pants are, people still have the freedom to walk around the city's streets wearing them, the judge said.

The law entered the books in July 2008. It prohibits people from wearing pants that sag low enough to reveal underwear. The first offense carried a $150 fine or community service.

Judge Johnson's ruling disappointed Mayor Thomas Masters, who argued 70 percent of voters approved the new law. He plans to consult with attorneys and residents to fight back.

Should people be allowed to "sag" as a condition of their civil liberties? Let me as you a different question, if we allow lawmakers to regulate how we wear our pants, could we be opening the door to letting them regulate how we wear our hair? Could lawmakers push the envelope and try to mandate our volunteer activities, our career choices, our church attendance in the name of not offending people?

In other words, is this really about a hip hop-inspired fashion trend leads kids to walk around holding up their pants with one hand as they walk down the street? Or could this well-intentioned mayor trying to clean up the image of his city unknowingly be setting precedents for majority-rule-by-vote of other activities that could rob our Constitutional rights?

You decide.

Jennifer LeClaire is the editor and author of "Doubtless: Faith that Overcomes the World." You can also visit her online at www.jenniferleclaire.org.

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Next Generation Leadership
written by Claire Sol;t PhD, April 23, 2009

When I moved to Riviera Beach ten years ago it was governed by elite liberal whites. All of the stores had been borded up since the riots of the 70's. Druggies and prostitutes cruised the streets and frequent gunshots pierced the air.
Then an impressive able and well educated cohort from the black majority wrested control. It has been very interesing to see what they do. They voted in a curfew and the baggy pants ban. An amittous community development plan brought bawck commerce, jobs, and tax base. They brage about their "A" rated schools. And they hold job fairs for exoffenders. They are an inspiration to me.