MORE LOUISIANA CITIES TACKLE SAGGY PANTS - SHOULD TEXAS DO THE SAME?

IS THIS AN ISSUE HOUSTON SHOULD ADDRESS OR IS IT A WASTE OF TIME?

If you're in the habit of letting your pants ride low, you had better pull 'em up when you visit the "Jambalaya Capital of the World." The Gonzales City Council is voting on an ordinance that would ban saggy pants. If it passes, offenders will face some pricey penalties. "If you're going to wear your pants, wear them the right way," says Essie Benson. Many people have been making that suggestion, but if you take a look around, it's pretty obvious the message is not getting across. These days, it seems teens and young adults are choosing to bare their underwear, and adults are taking notice. "You spend so much time trying to hold up your pants and you can't focus. It's a distraction," Wanda Yates says.

So many people have complained that several municipalities across the state have passed laws banning low-riding pants. There's even a saggy pants design being used on t-shirts sold in New Orleans that's meant to be funny. There's a reason for some of the humor behind the artwork. A lot of citizens say they just don't think it'll work. When asked if something like a saggy pants ordinance is enforceable, Jason O'Neal says he doesn't think so. "No! They gonna walk around with a ruler and see who has their pants where and there's no way you can possible enforce something like that." We called around and found that of the seven communities that passed the law, only the town of Mansfield had issued citations for breaking the law.

Port Allen recently passed a similar ordinance, but Captain Erik Frank with the police department says something as simple as the wording on the document stopped his department from enforcing it. "There was an attempt to do it civilly and not criminally," he says. The department cannot enforce the ordinance unless it is a criminal matter. So, it's back to the drawing board for Port Allen city officials. Janet Broussard, a resident there, says the sooner the better. "When you violate the law and have to pay up, it deters you from breaking the law, and sometimes you just have to get people in their pockets," Broussard says.