Sagging your pants is dumb, sagging in court, dumbest!

One does not normally expect to get credible fashion advice from a judge, but that's precisely what happened to LaMarcus D. Ramsey, when he appeared before Circuit Judge John Bush on a charge of receiving stolen property. 

MONTGOMERY, AL (Catholic Online) - Ramsey, 20, had been brought before the court to enter his plea when Bush noticed the young man's trousers sagging so low that his underwear showed. Naturally, such decorum is out of place in a courtroom. 

Bush gave the man three days in jail for contempt of court. 

"You are in contempt of court because you showed your butt in court," Bush explained. "You can spend three days in jail. When you get out you can buy pants that fit, or at least get a belt to hold up your pants so your underwear doesn't show."

Ironically, Judge Bush came under fire for his order. "People are asking me, is this out of the norm?" Bush said. "And I tell them no, that the only thing that's different is that most of the time I give a person five days in jail," Bush originally told the Montgomery Advertiser. 

While people have the right to dress as they please in public, provided they meet a minimum standard, some people, particularly youth, have a taken a habit of pushing those standards beyond accepted mores.

No parent should have to explain to their young children why someone is displaying their underwear in public. And in a courtroom, a place where justice is dispensed - justice that can range from a few days in jail, to the loss on one's freedom for life, to even death, the solemn decorum of the forum dictates that attendees dress in a manner that does not distract from the proceedings and shows respect for what takes place there. 

By sagging his pants, Ramsey displayed disrespect, or more specifically contempt, for the proceedings. 

It is nothing new for the youth to rebel against authority in certain ways. That's part of the natural development of a child. But for a young man to behave so absurdly in a place of solemnity demonstrates a lack of respect that is likely the product of bad attitude, bad parenting, or a lack of it entirely. 

In any case, this should be a lesson to all who think showing their underwear in public is "cute, cool, or bad," or whatever they call it these days. It's not - it's stupid. Let's just hope they grow to understand without needing time in jail to think about it. 

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