Councilman wants to take sag out of baggy pants

EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A city councilman wants to take the sag out of baggy pants by fining offenders who don't hike up their trousers.

Councilman Nathaniel Martin has been trying to get his proposal before the council for the past month, but he said it's in limbo "because the city law director doesn't think it can be enforced."

Members of the nonprofit organization Black on Black 2000 has raised concern about young men wearing their pants so low that, in some cases, they fully expose underwear-clad backsides.

The proposed law would impose a $25 fine for a first offense and a $50 fine for a second offense.

Art McKoy, director of Black on Black, said the organization isn't trying to play the role of moral and fashion police. But he added, "Some of us black men are tired of seeing our women frown, looking the other way in disgust."

Vicki Harlston, a Shaw High School junior, agrees, adding that it "sets a bad example for kids to see guys with their pants hanging down to their knees."