Court Opinion

ID: 9470527
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 03:08:11.059771+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:41:56.817002
License: Public Domain

LAY, Chief Judge,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent. It is well established that the state may regulate the personal appearance of its employees if the state has rational, nonarbitrary reasons for doing so. Kelley v. Johnson, 425 U.S. 238, 247, 96 S.Ct. 1440, 1445, 47 L.Ed.2d 708 (1976); see Bishop v. Colaw, 450 F.2d 1069, 1075 (8th Cir.1971). However, under the circumstances of this case the hair length regulation bears no rational relation to the state’s articulated reasons. The state offers three justifications for its hair length requirement for uniformed park employees: (1) park employees will be more readily identifiable to the public; (2) a park employee with short hair would be more effective at deterring and stopping violations of park regulations than a park employee with long hair; and (3) similarity in hair length promotes esprit de corps among members of the park management team.1 Hair length regulations do not further any of those goals. Although such goals may be reason*1047able to achieve, it borders on the ridiculous to say that regulating the length of a park naturalist’s hair achieves anything more than furthering an arbitrary rule that serves only to bolster someone’s personal prejudice.
First, park employees wear distinctive uniforms. Anyone wearing such a uniform is readily identifiable as a park employee. The fact that a naturalist has a different hairstyle would not cause a member of the public to doubt that that individual was in fact a park employee. A hair length rule cannot change facial or body differences; a park naturalist who is bald will not appear the same as a park naturalist with long hair. Although uniformity of appearance may make park employees readily identifiable, uniform appearance is not achieved by this regulation. Both a crewcut and a pink-dyed afro would be acceptable haircuts.
Second, the state has no basis in fact for inferring that long-haired people are less qualified or lack the necessary appearance of authority to deter park violations. The undisputed evidence is that no one has received complaints about Lowman’s long hair and that his hair length has not interfered with the performance of his job. I find it ludicrous to believe that a potential law violator would be more or less deterred according to the length of a park naturalist’s hair. Additionally, I think it an insincere argument to say that a park naturalist’s duties relate to law enforcement; the naturalist’s primary responsibilities are to educate park visitors and to develop programs and exhibits.2
The third argument, borrowed from Kelley, is that similarity in hair length promotes esprit de corps among members of the park management team. No doubt this is a legitimate state goal, and in Kelley, it was deemed a sufficient reason for the hair length regulation. 425 U.S. at 248, 96 S.Ct. at 1446. However, in Kelley, the esprit de corps rationale was justified by the necessity of having a disciplined police force. Id. at 246, 96 S.Ct. at 1445. That is not the situation here. The park management team has a far different purpose than a police force. A police force is the type of organization that “must demand a high level of discipline and duty of [its] members in order to function effectively for the good of all members of society.” Vorbeck v. Schnicker, 660 F.2d 1260, 1263 (8th Cir.1981), cert. denied, 455 U.S. 921, 102 S.Ct. 1278, 71 L.Ed.2d 462 (1982). The “purpose” of the park management team, as one of the exhibits for the state explains, is to “manage, protect, interpret, and maintain” parksland. Even park rangers are trained primarily as managers, not as law enforcement officers. The emphasis is on education and assistance, not on punishment of violators or presenting an authoritative image. As the trial court noted, it is the “tradition” of naturalists to be “unconventional,” unlike police officers who are traditionally highly disciplined. Thus, members of the park management team do not need to be disciplined to perform their jobs effectively, as much as they need to be “amiable” and “courteous.” A hair length regulation might further the goal of a disciplined police force, but it does not serve a similar role for naturalists.3 In fact, Low-man’s supervisor testified that the hair length requirement was likely to hurt morale, rather than promote esprit de corps.
I fail to see how any of the state’s articulated objectives are rationally furthered by the enforcement of this regulation. Hair length regulations must be viewed in the context of the affected employee’s job. *1048Kelley, 425 U.S. at 247, 96 S.Ct. at 1445. This regulation is nothing more than an unconstitutional infringement on a park naturalist’s liberty. Kelley does not require that all hair length regulations governing uniformed government employees must be upheld. The duties of a park naturalist are significantly different from those of a police officer. I submit that difference requires a different result.
I would affirm the judgment of the district court.

. These articulated reasons purportedly are adopted from the reasoning in Kelley. The fundamental difference is that Kelley related to police officers whereas the case here concerns a park naturalist; to suggest a parallel similarity between the two occupations, as the state attempts to do, is beyond rational comprehension.

. The official job description of a naturalist provides:
The NATURALIST II works under direction. Prepares trails and conducts tours and hikes for visitors to state parks; designs and constructs interpretive programs and exhibits; develops, expands, and maintains inventory of available resources; may assist and participate in park planning; may supervise duties of other naturalists and related activities; performs other duties as assigned.
There are no law enforcement duties mentioned.

. Cf. Miller v. Ackerman, 488 F.2d 920, 922 (8th Cir. 1973) (per curiam) (Marine Corps Reserve Unit could not prohibit the wearing of short-hair wigs based on the belief the prohibition was good for the “spirit of the Corps”).