Court Opinion

ID: 9426355
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:17:39.63809+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:00.511492
License: Public Domain

Mr. Justice Powell,
concurring.
I concur in the opinion of the Court and write to make clear that, contrary to the concern expressed in the dissent, I find no negative implication in the opinion with respect to a liberty interest within the Fourteenth Amendment as to matters of personal appearance. See Poe v. Ullman, 367 U. S. 497, 541-543 (1961) (Harlan, J., dissenting). When the State has an interest in regulating one’s personal appearance, as it certainly does in this case, there must be a weighing of the degree of infringement of the individual’s liberty interest against the need for the regulation. This process of analysis justifies the application of a reasonable regulation to a uniformed police force that would be an impermissible intrusion upon liberty in a different context.