Opinion ID: 349343
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Liberty Interest In One's Personal Appearance

Text: 5 Kelley v. Johnson, 425 U.S. 238, 96 S.Ct. 1440, 47 L.Ed.2d 708 (1976), is the principal Supreme Court case 2 bearing on the questions whether and to what extent a person has a constitutionally cognizable liberty interest in his or her personal appearance. Kelley did not decide these questions, although it did indicate that whatever the interest is, it is somewhat less weighty than the interests implicated in cases involving procreation, marriage, and family life. Id. at 244, 96 S.Ct. 1440. In upholding a hair code for policemen, the Supreme Court emphasized the employment status of the police officer and the unquestioned need for discipline, esprit de corps, and uniformity in a police force. Id. at 246, 96 S.Ct. at 1446. See also Stradley v. Andersen, 478 F.2d 188, 190-91 (8th Cir. 1973); Yarbrough v. City of Jacksonville, 363 F.Supp. 1176, 1179 (M.D.Fla.1973); Note, On Privacy: Constitutional Protection for Personal Liberty, 48 N.Y.U.L.Rev. 670, 768-69 (1973). We commence with the premise that quite different considerations apply here. Even though both teachers and policemen are employees of the state through local governmental units, terms like discipline and esprit de corps, appropriate for members of a uniformed paramilitary force, are manifestly inappropriate for high school teachers. Compare Kelley v. Johnson, supra, 425 U.S. at 245-46, 96 S.Ct. 1440 (policemen must salute flag), with Russo v. Central School District No. 1, 469 F.2d 623 (2d Cir. 1972), cert. denied, 411 U.S. 932, 93 S.Ct. 1899, 36 L.Ed.2d 391 (1973) (public high school teacher need not salute flag). Mr. Justice Powell's concurring opinion in Kelley reinforces the view we share that no negative implication as to the more general liberty interest in personal appearance is to be drawn from the Kelley majority opinion. Id. at 249, 96 S.Ct. 1440. On this assumption, we examine the liberty interest asserted by appellant. 6 The right to control one's own body, recognized by Supreme Court decree as constitutionally derived, Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 93 S.Ct. 705, 35 L.Ed.2d 147 (1973); Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479, 85 S.Ct. 1678, 14 L.Ed.2d 510 (1965), extends in the minds and hearts of many individuals to the body's teguments, be they clothing or hair. People have been conscious of personal appearance and fashion from the time the first of our forebears crawled out of what Judge Learned Hand so onomatopoetically referred to as the primordial ooze. Samson, for one, was thought to be deprived of his strength when shorn of his hair by Delilah. Our Roman, Grecian, and European antecedents made much of their styles of dress and hair. See Op. Vt. Att'y Gen. No. 23 (1967), reprinted in (1966-1968) Vt. Att'y Gen. Biennial Rep. 199-200. 7 Substantial creative efforts of mankind have been devoted to matters of dress, from the robes of the ancient Egyptians to King Henry VIII's armor, and dress has often conveyed a message, whether it be one of martyrdom in the sackcloth and ashes of the early Christians, respect for God in the skullcaps worn by many Jews, or achievement and calling in the regalia worn in academic processions. The mark of authority for priest and judge alike has been a robe, for monks baldness has been a sign of asceticism, and for English judges and our own founding fathers powdered wigs were a symbol of wisdom, authority, and sometimes affluence. 8 Id. at 326, 95 S.Ct. at 1003 (citations omitted). 9 Because the appellant's clash with his employer has failed to directly and sharply implicate basic constitutional values, we refuse to upset the policies established by the school board.