Officials with the American Civil Liberties Union in Indianapolis have their eye on Gary and the Common Council, waiting to see if they produce an ordinance regarding the wearing of pants sagging below one's waistline that warrants a legal challenge.
That idea has been the subject of discussion among the city's Youth Council – a group of Gary teens who discuss city issues. The group is expected on Thursday to make its recommendation about sagging pants, and Common Council Vice President Ronald Brewer said the adults are ready to begin work on the actual ordinance once the teenagers act.
The ACLU said they were aware that Gary is considering the issue and will want to see the final ordinance that gets approved by the Common Council. Spokeswoman Kelly Sharp said the group would consider getting involved in a legal challenge if someone from Gary were willing to come forward and complain.
ACLU legal Director Ken Falk said a final decision can't be made until then, although he said the legal organization in general regards an ordinance governing someone's clothing choice to be a violation of laws protecting one's right to free expression.
"I would hope (Gary) has better things to do than try to regulate what people wear," he said.
Dai'one Fields, the Youth Council's president, said there are still details that will have to be worked out between now and when the adult Council might approve an ordinance some time in December.
Yet he said he thinks many people who speak out against the issue are confused about what is actually going to happen.
Brewer has said it is possible there will be fines for people found publicly wearing their pants in the manner that they sag and a person's undershorts are exposed. Fields said that for teenagers, the issue will be dealt with in a soon-to-be created Teen Court, where the preferred punishment will be some sort of community service.
"It would only be the extreme cases, repeat offenders, who might face a fine," Fields said, adding he thinks opposition is building before people know the facts.
"It is not what some people are trying to make it out to be," Fields said of the proposed sagging pants ordinance.
Brewer, who has said he considers the style bordering on indecent exposure, said he is consulting with officials in nearby Lynwood, Ill., which enacted its own sagging pants ban in 2011.
Village President Gene Williams said it has given adults the ability to confront teenagers who let their pants sag, which results in very few citations actually needing to be issued.
In a similar situation is Sauk Village, Ill., which also has a sagging pants ban. Police Chief Robert Kowalski, who became police chief earlier this year, said the village has not issued a single sagging pants citation since he took the job.
Yet he called his village's ordinance, "a good tool to have, one of the tools we can use if we need to."
Kowalski said he was particularly pleased that high schools in his community have addressed the issue, saying that students at Bloom Trail High School in nearby Chicago Heights who let their pants sag during the school day are sent to the dean's office, where they are provided with a belt they must wear the rest of the day. Thornton Fractional Township High School District 215 schools in Calumet City and Lansing, TF North and TF South, can suspend students if they refuse to pull their pants up.
"They're strict, that's what really needs to be done to deal with this," Kowalski said.
Gary Community School Corp. Superintendent Cheryl Pruitt said the public school system in Gary already requires students to wear uniforms, but that policy does not address the issue of saggy pants. Although she said school officials have the discretion to make a student alter their attire if it becomes a disruption to the school day.
Meanwhile, Kowalski said he thinks local businesses will play a role in determining how effective a sagging pants ordinance will be. "I think wearing one's pants like that is vulgar, but it will be up to businesses to decide if they want to tolerate such behavior."
Fields said that could be a tactic used in implementing a sagging pants ban in Gary. Citing signs that appear in some public places reading 'No shirt? No shoes? No service!' Fields said, "We might soon see signs that read, 'Pants sag? No service!'
"That would probably get people's attention really quick," he said.