PTK to host debate on First Amendment rights
During Six Mile Post sponsored First Amendment week at GHC
By Kayla Amos
[email protected]
Staff Writer
Believe it or not, some students might just have to trash those baggy or low-rise jeans sitting in their closet, and it won't be because their mother can't stand them.
According Scott Akemon, instructor of political science, local politicians are already lobbying to make the wearing of these pants illegal in Floyd County.
This hot topic will be the subject of the Phi Theta Kappa town hall that will take place during GHC's First Amendment Awareness Week.
" We wanted to debate an issue that College students will feel strongly about. The first amendment is part of a living document, that applies to many aspects of our lives," Akemon said.
Akemon, a faculty adviser of Phi Theta Kappa, stated that banning saggy pants is viewed by some to be a violation of First Amendment rights, which protect freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly and petition. Since many view their choice of clothing as an expression of themselves, they believe that this choice of clothing should be protected by the First Amendment.
However, many politicians believe that clothing that reveals too much skin, pants in particular, is a violation of public indecency laws and want saggy-baggy and low hip-hugging pants to be illegal to wear. According to firstamendmentcenter.org, in Louisiana these laws are already in place, and a person found in violation of the law can be fined $500 or sentenced to up to six months in jail.
The town hall will take place in the Solarium on the Floyd campus on Jan. 31 and is open to all students who wish to attend.
While the main debaters will be members of Phi Theta Kappa, Akemon highly encourages other students to come to ask questions about the laws and add comments of their own to the discussion.
First Amendment Awareness Week (Jan. 28- Feb. 1) is a week-long effort to call attention to the liberties granted to Americans by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It is sponsored by the Six Mile Post and co-sponsored by Phi Theta Kappa, College Democrats, the Old Red Kimono, the Baptist Student Union (BSU) and the GHC chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP).
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