new thread
This goes back to 1969
"Plaintiffs-appellees, Thomas Breen and James Anton, filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against defendants-appellants, the State of Wisconsin's Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Members of the Williams Bay Board of Education attacking as unconstitutional the Williams Bay High School dress code regulating the length of students' hair. The district court held the regulation unconstitutional and defendants appeal. "
"The right to wear one's hair at any length or in any desired manner is an ingredient of personal freedom protected by the United States Constitution. "
"In our system, state-operated schools may not be enclaves of totalitarianism. School officials do not possess absolute authority over their students. Students in school as well as out of school are 'persons' under our Constitution. They are possessed of fundamental rights which the State must respect, just as they must respect their obligations to the State. Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503, 89 S. Ct. 733, 21 L. Ed. 2d 731 (1968). "
apparently the Mesquite school board is ignorant in regards to history and the law.
Is this court sufficiently senior to bind all others in the US?
No, and there's your problem. This is a decision of the seventh circuit Court of Appeals. Texas is in the fifth circuit.
Nevertheless, most courts in most of the US accept Tinker v Des Moines as persuasive precedent (that case was cited in Breen v Kahl), so in most states the school boards can't regulate hair length. So, in practice, the problem only persists in Texas.
The US Supreme Court may accept a case where there is a 'circuit split', but I'm not sure if the split here is the fifth circuit v everyone else, or just Texas v everyone else. Nonetheless, the 'Supremes' are the only hope.
Disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer, just a patent agent.
according to another poster on this board, long hair is an issue in the corporate world where he resides in Florida so it's not just Texas.
I think you should come to Texas for a visit. perhaps you might get some local longhairs riled up enough to join us in a major protest of some kind against the fascist elements in our state.
I think every long hair on this board should consider voicing their opinion to the Mesquite school board or anywhere else where corporate fascism reigns.
having long hair is a civil right and we should join forces to fight the oppressors!
let's start up a new civil rights movement-For Long Haired males and stop this SEXISM!!
The legal precedents for school students are much more favourable than for employees, just not in quite the whole country.
For employees the position is much worse, except in DC where hair style is a protected class under statute, but there are particular places, like Florida, where it's a bigger problem in practice, because more prejudice exists.
And there you go again inviting me to Texas.