Two assistant public defenders representing three defendants argued before Judge Laura Johnson North of County Court in nearby Palm Beach Gardens that the ordinance and its enforcement violated principles of freedom of expression and the right to due process. They added that enforcement of the ordinance has focused exclusively on young black men.

Mayor Thomas Masters, a Baptist minister, said in an interview that Riviera Beach voters “just got tired of having to look at people’s behinds or their undergarments,” but the public defenders argued that sagging pants were a constitutionally protected expression of identity.