There is a rather bizarre case involving a 20-year-old man, Deshon Marman, who entered a plane wearing baggy pants and failed to pull up his pants fast enough for a US Airways pilot who had him arrested at San Francisco International Airport.
Marman is described as a football star at University of New Mexico who was traveling to a friend’s funeral.
He reportedly said that he first refused a demand to pull up his pants upon entering the plane because his hands were full but did ultimately pull up his pants when he reached his seat.
If so, it was not fast enough for the pilot who ordered the plane evacuated and performed a “citizen arrest.”
He was charged with trespassing, battery and resisting arrest.
Notably, there is no published dress code for US Airways and it is not clear how any arrest could be made for baggy pants. This has been a long controversy over efforts to criminalize baggy pants. The trespass charge would appear based on the theory that the pilot wanted him to leave and he did not leave fast enough. There is no explanation of the battery charge. He could not have been a threat since we have seen how baggy pants frustrate crime.
Police admit that he was not threatening anyone. Spokesman Sgt. Michael Rodriguez stated “[h]e was not threatening anybody directly, but being on board an aircraft and being disruptive to the aircraft crew interferes with their duties and that could be a safety factor.”
Police are now also holding Marman on an outstanding warrant on possession of marijuana.
I personally find this style perfectly moronic, but I fail to see the grounds for such an arrest unless the person is being charged with public exposure.
Source: NBC
FFLEO,
Taking it back to an era we both know about for purposes of illustration: If I wear a chartreuse Zoot Suit, does anyone have the right to tell me I can’t fly?
So far i 2011, there have been 16 incidents that warranted prosecution.
So far this year, there have been 24 convictions of violations of 49 U.S.C. § 46504.
Prosecutions and convictions are fairly rare, given the huge numbers of people who fly. Most are treated as ‘incidents’ which is probably how this case will be treated. A minor incident, and hopefully the young man will have learned something from it. Being interviewed by the FBI is a sobering experience if one is at all in touch with reality. If he cops an attitude with them, it will be a big mistake on his part.
OK folks, lower the temperature a bit. The basic rules are simple, and are put in place for the safety, comfort and convenience of the flying public. Note that I put safety first on my list of three things. With the sardine packing of airplanes these days, comfort and convenience have taken a secondary role. Safety is paramount, and all rules regarding flight operations derive from that one principle. The basic fact that one cannot move quickly in emergency situations if you are waddling along with pants around your thighs and knees is one of those things that may be a judgement call on the part of ground or flight crews, but once the instruction is given, that is that. If a passenger does not comply with a lawful instruction, they have crossed in invisible line and are stepping on 49 U.S.C. § 1472(j).
HenMan, the aviation industry has a lot of abbreviations. ‘Pax’ is passengers, ‘Wx’ is weather. ‘Angels’ is flight altitude. A ‘deal’ is a near-miss, which actually ought to be referred to as a near-collision, but that is another story. There are a lot of reasons to not want to fly commercial in our modern climate, but I don’t think the fact airline staff talk in abbreviations needs to be very high on the list.
Pete, the use of the term ‘martial law” is hyperbole. The Captain is in charge of either ship or airplane. Some Captains are jerks; most are great. But on a crowded vessel full of people, SOMEBODY has to be in charge. At Angels 40 it is a long way to the ground if somebody does not behave. Same as on a ship hundreds of miles from the nearest solid land. This is a rule that has been in place for centuries before the airplane was even invented. It is a system that has worked since people first went to sea thousands of years ago. I see no reason to scrap it. When Capt. Sully Sullenberger told those passengers to assume the crash position and for the flight crew to take a seat and buckle in, he got instant compliance and nobody died. The system works. Just remember, the flight crew sitting up front are literally the first to the scene of the accident in case of a crash. They do not want to die or be injured any more than anyone else.
When you are in charge of an airplane that weighs as much than a steam locomotive, flies at the edge of the stratosphere at speeds similar to a bullet from a .45 pistol, and is pressurized, you do not want passengers disobeying instructions, thereby potentially risking the lives of all the souls on board. If a passenger disobeys one order, what others might that passenger disobey? At that point, the laws on air piracy and interfering with the flight crew kick in. Go read 49 U.S.C. § 1472(j). A quick look-up to verify the accuracy of that last statement tells me that section has been changed and is now 49 U.S.C. § 46504.
Thank you Anon for posting that video. The kid was not causing a disturbance and kept cool. This is just another example IMO of a very up-tight power structure, (blindly backing each other up) that will enforce it’s authority over the most minor of issues.
I am further not appalled by the pajama-pants thing, not too long ago girls were wearing pajamas. Again, a fashion statement I wouldn’t make but it did cross my mind when I saw it, that as clothing goes they had to be more comfortable than what I was wearing. I don’t recall reading about airline’s kicking girls kitted out in bustiers off their planes. That was a big fad for quite awhile. It seems nearly impossible to me that some girl wearing underwear for outer-where didn’t get on a plane and turn heads doing it.
As to Mr.Arrington’s statement: “I have dreadlocks, and I don’t walk around with a suit and tie on every day. I’m sure people pass judgement on me based upon how I choose to look. But one thing no one will do is walk away from me not knowing that I’m smart, pleasant, cool to talk with, and I smell good.” Mr. Arrington appears to be saying that in spite of his fashion choice, once he is engaged on a more substantial basis people will have a favorable opinion of him.
That assumes that he is so engaged and not denied service and told to leave because of his locks as happened here in a St. Louis restaurant a year or so ago. That assumes that he will not be told that he can’t board a plane until he does something with his hair by some airline functionary that is then supported unilaterally up the chain of command.
This isn’t about pants, it’s about power and not asking ‘how high’ when told to jump. That’s what power wants to hear and anything else in simply unacceptable.
Video: Sagging pants debate aboard Flight 488
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/crime/detail?entry_id=91290
This is video of the pilot and the passenger chatting.
The comments to that video are pretty good, as is the reported response of LaVar Arrington: “: Young athletes, if you want to be taken seriously, act like it. I read an article about a New Mexico football player named Deshon Marman who was removed from a flight because his jeans were below his buttocks. The report says Marman, 20, repeatedly refused to pull up his pants. After taking his seat, more complaints came from flight staff, and a call to the police was made and Marman was removed and arrested. So to sum up this mess of a story: A college kid caught a case and became a national story because it was more important to him to prove that he would not pull his pants above his buttocks. This has to go down as one of the dumbest ways to get arrested. My advice, Deshon, if you ever read this: You have an opportunity to get an education and play the most popular sport in America. There’s nothing wrong with being a young adult that presents himself as a responsible, respectful, polite, thoughtful and pleasant person. Yes, appearance matters. I have dreadlocks, and I don’t walk around with a suit and tie on every day. I’m sure people pass judgement on me based upon how I choose to look. But one thing no one will do is walk away from me not knowing that I’m smart, pleasant, cool to talk with, and I smell good. In the end, people will know that I’m someone who gets it. Life is about continuing lessons, and yours right now is learning to dress appropriately. You need to embrace it, if for no other reason than your own self-respect. Understand you set us back when you do these things — “us” being two different groups, African-Americans and athletes. Brave people have fought for equal rights for years on your and my behalf. Many have dedicated their entire lives to dispelling the stereotypes that have been used to justify holding back a race of people and more specifically a young black man. What you did only serves as sweet victory to those who seek to validate those stereo types. Pull your pants up along with your standards. Otherwise you will continue fall victim to the circumstances that you create for yourself”
As a further indictment, it turns out he was not wearing pants, but pajamas, at which point I think he should have been tossed out the plane while it was in flight.
Arthur Randolph Erb-
You refer to a person as a “pax”, and HE has a problem with authority? One of the many reasons why I don’t fly anymore.
Absent a clearly disclosed, non-discriminatory dress code made known to passengers in advance of getting to the airport this is no more than a case of the fashion police in the form of a gate agent taking his/her personal fashion choice way too seriously. Once in his seat the kid would have been out of sight of the other passengers.
I came up when kids were ridiculed for the length of their hair, bell-bottom pants (when they first came out), men wearing jewelry were made fun of and girls in mini-skirts or, heaven forbid in pants, in a business or school setting, were often times threatened with denial of service or told to go home and change clothes.
It was total BS 40 years ago and is total BS today. It was about putting kids in their place 40 years ago and it’s about putting kids, primarily young, black men, in their place today. That’s the deep issue and the only reason it became an issue in the first place.
The law may give the captain the power of a king but as Spiderman’s uncle cautioned the young web-slinger “With great power comes great responsibility”. I would hope the Captain of any plane I may again fly in would have the simple common sense to assess the same situation and tell whomever was so exercised about it to start the brouhaha to go back to work and stop screwing around. The pilot may have had the power but it looks to be in diametric opposition to his common sense.
I reiterate my other posting, black and baggy and nothing more.
O S
I didn’t know that. So by boarding an aircraft (or a ship) a person is basically submitting to martial law by the pilot (or captain)?
The reason for the “citizens arrest” is that local cops do NOT have the right to arrest somebody for actions that they did not personally observe. Thus the complaining party must make the arrest for legal reasons. In different states I believe there are different rules for this. In some, the captain would have to accompany the officer to the station and file the complaint. That is one reason that United Airlines had a policy of NEVER causing the arrest of any pax even in cases of assault on a crew member. That would cause a delay in the departure if the captain had to leave the airport or file the complaint.
When I flew on the United side of our operation, I asked my chief pilot if that policy applied to us. He told me no, so I was fully prepared to arrest any unruly pax if it were needed.
Raff, you asked what statute. Here ya go:
49 U.S.C. § 1472(j)
Raff, it is not about clothing. It is about following a legal order. If you are told to do something–anything–by a crew member, immediate compliance is required. Not expected, but required. Failure to follow an order will get you ejected from the flight. Additionally, it comes under the rubric of interfering with a flight crew, which is a felony. Try not following instruction of the flight crew on a flight sometime and you will end up as a guest at a local jail as soon as you land.
And to respond to FFLEO, you have hit on one of the primary issues. If a passenger refuses to comply with instructions to do something as simple as pull up his pants, what other orders will he ignore? It is not something any Captain wants to find out at flight level.
OS,
I have no problem with the Captain being able to have him ejected, but what statute provides a civil captain the authority to punish someone for their clothing choices?
rafflaw
I will admit that at ‘first blush’ the captain’s actions seemed extreme. However, as with every item/action in life, once you think this through without any biases while reasoning out all of the facts, as we know them, I think the captain was justified. Remember, we have all heard that the captain of any vessel–air or sea–is *responsible for the safety of all crew and passengers* and it is his sworn duty to abide by that primary principle of his job.
If the passenger’s actions progressed to ‘out of control’ while airborne, the captain would incur ultimate responsibility of all those lives aboard, which is an enormous responsibility with you fully consider all the potential consequences of any person’s errant behavior in a confined space at +/- 30,000 feet AGL.
Raff, yes it is the law. The Captain of an aircraft, or authorized crew, can call the law. What he did is actually a Federal felony, if the airline wishes to push it.
It is a reasonable assumption that even if he is not charged in the long run, he is going to be interviewed by the FBI.
I am in agreement with Capt. Erb. The guy was told repeatedly to pull up his pants. He either chose to be passive aggressive, or thought since he was a “football star” he had a sense of entitlement. There is more to the order to hoist the pants than just fashion. First of all, there is a safety issue. If your pants are down around your knees, it is hard to be mobile in case of emergency. Second, how much of his anatomy was he displaying to the flying public?
At any rate, if you are given an instruction to do something by ground crew, flight attendant or other flight crew, you had damn well better comply. As an aviator myself, I can tell you that if I tell you to do something (or stop doing something) when we are either about to take off or in flight, I expect immediate compliance. You can ask why later.
As Capt. Erb pointed out, this young man may be in more trouble than he yet realizes.
Former Fed,
Captains orders shouldn’t force law enforcement officers to arrest someone after he is removed from the plane.
A.R. Erb,
Thank you for reminding us of ‘captain’s orders’ and the finality they entail when insubordination occurs via crew *or* passengers.
As a forcibly retired airline captain and a client of Prof. Turley, I can say that the captain was right. From the reports I have read, the gate agent requested that the kid pull up his pants, the F/A did so, and he did NOT comply, yet he still thought he could stay on board the plane. I can tell you that the captain did NOT get involved until the situation had gotten out of control from the cabin crew. He had lots more to do than greet every pax on board. So the FACT is that he had to be called to deal with the situation.
If the pax does not comply or presents any kind of an attitude, I can tell you that he WILL be gone! If you refuse to comply with the captains orders promptly, you will be arrested and charged with interfering with a crew member which is a major felony and you will get to know more than you cared to learn about aviation law and the Federal courts. From what I can see, since he was arrested by a local cop, no Federal charges have been filed as YET. If I were the captain, I would make sure such charges were filed.
Black while baggy. That’s the real crime.
A friend’s funeral could be the backdrop for an irritable expression.
To be young and in training mode for high-contact sports gives additional edge to intensity. He was self-contained, so who was battered?
Just imagine being confronted for just being your dark-skinned self, and being arrested on “Juneteenth” week-end in San Francisco.
This event is shameful.