Baggy Pants Banned In Illinois Town [Video]

The town of Collinsville, Illinois, which is about 20 miles from St. Louis, Missouri, is currently under controversy, as City Council members have recently banned baggy pants. The mayor isn't so happy about the decision, but he was overruled, as 75% of people in the town were for it. Watch the video below and read on for more information.

The City Council members communicated with the local news station, Fox 2 St. Louis, saying that they passed the law because residents were sick and tired of looking at people's underwear. Council member Michael Tognarelli also added that saggy, over-sized pants can also be connected with criminal and gang activity. A number of other council members sided with Mayor John Miller and opposed the ban, but they were ultimately out-voted.

Here are the details of the new law:

The new law requires pants to be "secured at the waist to prevent the pants from falling more than 3 inches below the hips ... causing exposure to the person or the person's undergarments," according to a copy of the ordinance. It would only apply to pants worn on public property. Violators will be fined $100 and be required to perform community service for the first offense and $300 and community service for subsequent offenses.

Nay-sayers don't see it that way at all, though:

Frankly, government shouldn't be telling us how to dress, American Civil Liberties Union spokesman Edwin Yohnka told CBS last year when Evanston, Illinois was mulling a baggy pants ban. If they create an ordinance, so if their pants exposing X amount of underwear, so what are the police going to do, carry around rulers and then you start stopping and questioning and measuring?

After giving the council a hard time and apologizing to the public for the passing, Miller suspects that the new law will not only be challenged in court, but will also cost tax payers, most of whom he claims didn't want the ban passed in the first place.

It seems the two sides are not and will not agree, and it's hard to know which side is telling the whole truth. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens!

What do you think of the new law? Should it be passed in more states? I'm all for it!