E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS"It's pajama pants today; next it will be underwear tomorrow," said a Louisiana politician who wants to ban the wearing of pajamas outside of the home. KTAL-TV's Morgan Thomas reports.
Privates ought to remain private, says a Louisiana lawmaker who wants to ban people from wearing pajama pants in public.
Caddo Parish District 3 Commissioner Michael Williams is pushing for an ordinance that would prohibit residents from appearing in public places in pajama pants, defined as “a garment sold in the sleepwear section of department stores.”
Williams told the Shreveport Times he was moved to push for an ordinance after an incident at a local Walmart in which he and others were offended by a customer clad in pajamas.
"I saw a group of young men wearing pajama pants and house shoes," he said, according to the Times. "At the part where there should have been underwear," his private parts were showing through the fabric.
He told Williams the Times that “pajamas are designed to be worn in the bedroom at night."
“If you can't (wear pajamas) at the boardwalk or courthouse, why are you going to do it in a restaurant or in public? Today it's pajamas," Williams said. "Tomorrow it's underwear. Where does it stop?"
Williams’ proposal may have a hard time passing legal muster.
Marjorie R. Esman, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, last week sent Williams a letter saying clothing is a form of expression protected by the Constitution, The Advertiser reported.
“To ban the wearing of pajamas, like any other form of attire,” Esman wrote, “would violate a liberty interest guaranteed under the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution. … The government must demonstrate a rational basis for its ban – and Caddo Parish’s has no legitimate rational basis for regulating the attire of its residents."
Caddo Parish Sheriff Steve Prator said such a ban would be "very difficult to enforce the way it's described.”
Shreveport, which is in Caddo Parish, already has a ban on saggy pants.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:
Leave a Comment:
Sew that useless hole in the front...there's no point having that there anyway...done.
Meh. Un-enforceable.
Before he transitioned into shared living, my adult son with autism lived in a group home. Staff were forbidden to let anyone out of the house in sweatpants or anything that wasn't clean and well-fitting. Appearance matters, but unless you're in charge of a group home, you don't get to control that for anyone else.
While I find it to be the height of rudeness I suppose it should be a person's liberty to wear PJ's in public. As long as they are decently covered I have no beef.
Whenever they ban something stupid, everyone needs to do it en masse. Are they going to arrest and fine everyone? This is why they keep making everything against some kind of law. All the levels of our governments will be rolling in dough while they keep stealing and plundering all the citizens. Seriously, they may as well be standing in the street begging people to revolt. Something is trying to destroy America, no doubt about it.
Now that there's big money to be made in the private prison/slave trade maybe they will arrest everyone.
Indecent exposure is a totally different matter then just wearing pj looking bottoms. There are lots of casual wear that resemble pjs, with no open area in front. What about those droopy drawer dudes? They look hysterical while thinking they are cool!
What is it with politicians sticking their noses in other people's business? Is there some type of scientific principal at work here? Does the elimination of some regulation for your deep-pocketed crony create a vacuum that must be immediately filled with an intrusive, overreaching law that deprives the average person of a little more freedom?
Dear Mr. Williams:
Just admit it - it makes your fundie Xtian blood boil to see a hot girl in pajama pants, doesn't it?
If you want to control how people dress, move to Saudi Arabia or Iran.
it's the battle cry of the low-brow ignorant......"what's the big deal?". "how is this a problem"?. well, idiots, if you're not understanding it then sit down with mom and dad (if you have an idea who they are) and let them know they really let you down because they didn't take the time to instill class, standards, and anything that resembles a sense of what is appropriate.
Oh man, and calling people "low brow idiots" on the Internet sure raises the bar quite a bit huh? If only everyone could behave like you do... imagine that!
And who the hell do you think you are to decide what is appropriate for everyone to wear? I'm sorry King Sir Rick I'm pretty sure you aren't the king of this nation nor the creator of mankind. You're just some @!$%# with an over inflated ego that likes to talk @!$%# on the internet. Honestly, I'm pretty sure there IS A LAW against that. I'm even pretty sure trolling and making derogatory / provacative remarks is against this website's TOS. You probably haven't even read it have you...
So please, do yourself a favor and spare us the "low-brow ignorant" comments before a moderator throws your ass out of the bar for being a jackass.
If it is allowed by the constitution to wear what ever I wish(out in public but not in private place where it is not allowed) what if I choose to wear NOTHING? I agree though that if a case of decency is involved then the law should be enforced and not particularly the clothes. I have noticed lots of females and males (of various ages) dressed in PJ's or sweats who looked a whole lot better in that attire than they would have in spandex, lowriders, tanktops, or other more "open" clothing. If not for PJ's the peopleofwalmart.com site would not have nearly as much to work with. One of these days I expect to see the first real naked shopper in a WalMart store and I very much doubt if she/he will be in mid-20's and built like Miss or Mr. America.............more like late 60's and built like Mr. Magoo. Humans are a very strange animal!!
With all the problems each state has right now and some moron wants to ban pajamas in public? How about banning crooked politicians, illegal drugs, murders, rapes, robberies etc! Sheesh, doesn't this idiot have a life? To focus on something as inane as pajamas in public is just plain stupid. I wouldn't wear them in public but that is my choice. Most of the pajamas I've seen cover a whole lot more than some of the things, especially females, are wearing in public. Before you go and czall me a chauvinst, I admire women a lot having worked in a female dominated profession! I am a retired RN and if these people want to wear whatever in public, it is their choice unless they go beyond decency of course! Red
I believe in what this country fought for>>> FREEDOM! But I also believe that we should dress appropriately. PJ's are for the home. Keep them there. It just shows a lack of self-respect on the person being too lazy to be able to dress themselves. It started with women and now men too, c'mon. If you must be lazy where spandex because those are ok. This is why other countries look at us like lower class dirty Americans. Try dressing appealing and feel better for yourself. You do know that when you where PJ's people do look at you in disgusting ways. Lazy, dirty, nasty... Why? because then you go home and lounge all over your bed with those same dirty PJ's. Those are what pigs do. Think about it
I'm sorry. You don't believe in what this country fought for. What happens when you get knocked up and have to wear materal clothes and your baby gets taken away cause you had it in county jail because some lame cop broke up with his girlfriend and had it out for all women that day.. and the Judge had a bad night last night and overcompensated by pouring a double in his water (vodka) glass and just threw the book at you. Probably better than you deserve you Un-Amarican.... go ahead and move to one of those "other countries"... oh, wait, they wouldn't take you, YOU are the kind of person they look down on.
BTW. I get smiles and googly eyes all the time at the grocery in my pajamas. Not everyone judges a persons attractiveness by the dollar amount of their clothing. Also pigs do not sleep on beds or wear clothes, get real.
There are already laws on lewd behavior. So enforce them. I don't know of any covering bad taste. One person's chick is another's "ohmygod!". And what could possibly be holding up jeans that hang below boxer shorts?
Need to ban pajamas, fat and pepper spray at WalMart!
They lose half their customer base......
Americans are a bunch of prudes!
Where are all the single women at? A man walking around in his pajama bottoms, his "package" outlined by thin, cotton fabric which allows his member to bounce about in the open air....You gotta admire a man who is comfortable with all his parts ;p
Advice for Michael Williams: don't hate the player, hate the game!
I understand what the politician was trying to do but he approached it the wrong way. Instead of writing the rules, the person filing the complaint should have been allowed to file a indecent exposure complaint due to to the wearers of the pjs were not properly covering their genital areas and therefore exposing afore mentioned offending body parts. There are too many rules already, why do we need more. Sometimes policitians and officials get carried away. How silly that you can wear a bikini to the store but not pajamas.
By this logic we also need to ban Football, UFC, and the WWF.
@!$%#, what about beachwear?
The @!$%# would probably get a confused erection and have a stroke at a water park.
BTW. The only time I wear pajamas in public is to Walmart or to the corner store to pick up a gallon of milk, a pack of smokes, water or soda pop.
Do some people seriously put on their best Sunday clothes for that @!$%#? Makeup?
Who the hell compares clothing at Walmart or 7-11? LOL!
then they should also ban those gang bangers from wearing their pants around there knees showing there underwear!!
I WEAR MY BATMAN PJ'S WITH PRIDE!!!! Blue jeans are just..so blue...and boring...and not as awesome.
But are there not OTHER THINGS in this world to worry about other than disgracing against my B-man pjs? This is the most unimportant thing I have ever read in my life. I should not have to worry about going out of my house and worry about getting arrested...for a type of cloth I am wearing. But will this lead me to wear my underwear in public? Uhhh....bro...nahh...I am STILL haunted by that dream of going on a bus with them and having everyone laugh at me. (Don't laugh at me). But, seriously. I am already a gay dude in South Louisiana who only wants a nerdy boyfriend to play video games with and eat pizza as we grow old and call each other dumbasses for the things we did in the past and laugh at em. (I'm so not your typical gay guy. I am fairly intelligent). But now I have to worry about getting...ARRESTED...for wearing...PJ's! Let me make a fool of myself Commissioner if I'd like too.
Also, why were you looking down there anyways hmm?? I am assuming he had some rockin' PAC MAN PJ's. But if his shlong was hanging outside the barriers then I'd say you shoulda done something for indecent exposure. But besides this. I vote no on this topic.