Humorous laws—they’re silly and aren’t necessarily even in effect. Take the banning of fake mustaches in Alabama churches or Sunday, whale hunting in Ohio and the outlawing of baggy pants in Louisiana.

Oh, wait, that last one actually just got passed. As of June 11, sagging pants are against the law in Delacambre, La.

Granted, Delacambre has a population of a little over 2,000, but that doesn’t make this any less ridiculous. Especially since other cities are now following suit. In September, Atlanta, Ga. will consider the same ban.

In certain parts of the state, people wearing the style, or “offenders,” can be fined up to $500 and even receive jail time. The reasoning behind this? To maintain a good civic image.

Sagging pants apparently imply a disrespect of authority that can lead to bad behavior and are supposedly an epidemic. But let’s get one thing straight. Baggy pants are not the bubonic plague.

The question is how did something as preposterous as fashion prohibition come into effect?

Initially, attempts to outlaw sagging pants failed as those opposed exercised the right of self-expression. However, anti-sagging activists dodged this and attacked from another angle—indecency laws.

Think about it. Louisiana government officials actually had to spend time rewriting their state constitution to stipulate sagging pants as indecent. In other words, they seem to care more about three inches of visible boxer shorts than the fact they have one of the country’s lowest literacy rates.

Not only are these lawmakers tending to such trivial issues, they’re also imposing on people’s civil liberties. To see this, we must first look at the origin of baggy pants.

As the trend started, prisoners would be issued uniforms without belts (so they couldn’t be used as weapons) even if the clothes were too big. From there, it was popularized by hip-hop artists of the late ’80s.

Authorities then claim that sagging pants demonstrate a “prison mentality,” or a destructive and chaotic way of life. While offenders should perhaps be responsible to understand their trend’s history, to fine them for it is still a mere implication of their attitude. The law should not be allowed to punish someone based on suggestiveness alone.

If they’re treating baggy pants like speeding tickets, they should apply the same logic. If you’re going over 20 mph in a school zone, that is clearly against the law—no room for insinuation. But that’s not the case here.

Just because a guy has a buzz-cut doesn’t mean he’s a neo-Nazi skinhead. Likewise, it’s unfair to say every person in baggy pants is anti-authority. If this law isn’t repealed, it allows the government to throw a blanket label over our generation and prosecute us on simple inference. Even if we don’t yet have a “freedom of dress,” there’s still something vaguely unconstitutional about all this.

You’ll be changing classes soon. Make a mental count of all the baggy pants. How many of those wearing them do you think actually considered the anti-authority statement they’d be making? So if the condition of Louisiana public schools seems more important than the condition of Louisiana baggy pants, then I rest my case.