Hampton, Georgia is the most recent in a string of small towns to outlaw ‘saggy pants.’ The new law states that pants three inches below the hip line that show skin or underwear are illegal, and a crime punishable by fine. First time offenders will be charged $50, second time offenders $100, and third time $200.
The town’s 5,100 inhabitants have mixed opinions about the law. Two men sporting the newly criminalized style interviewed by 11 Alive insisted that the law was over the top, one arguing that showing underwear isn’t “obscene,” while the other suggested that the city was taking the situation “to the extreme.”
A proponent of the new legislature, Tommy Morrissey, told 11 Alive that “It’s not a fashion statement…It’s just being rude to anybody that might be walking behind ‘em; it’s just rude.” Hampton City Manager Andy Pippin denies allegations that this is just another way to collect money for the city, saying that no complaint or challenge to the law has yet been made.