A Green Bay committee has overwhelmingly denied a proposal to ban saggy pants in the city’s downtown. The city attorney said it would be unconstitutional, police say it would be tough to enforce, and citizens felt it would send the wrong message about the city.
Several residents spoke out against the proposal at the Protection and Welfare Committee meeting Monday night including Jeffery House, an African-American, who felt it would lead to racial profiling. “It goes right back to the Trayvon Martin situation where Zimmerman profiled the guy with a hoodie as a criminal.”
Alderman David Boyce, who spearheaded the plan, implied House sagged his pants. “How do you feel yourself when you do stuff like that,” Boyce asked, before he was interrupted by House, who told him he doesn’t dress like that and pointed out that his pants fit.
Boyce, 65, told a story of how he was assaulted by someone with saggy pants.
In the end, he actually joined the rest of the committee to deny his proposal. Boyce says he didn’t want an ordinance but to get a discussion going about the issue in downtown.
AUDIO: WTAQ’s Terry Lee reports (:36)