The Law: Briefs

> Though numerous hirsute plaintiffs have gone to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Justices had steadfastly refused to get enmeshed in long-hair disputes. But last week the court finally faced the matter and trimmed some individual rights—at least for policemen. Suffolk County police on Long Island had objected to regulations that banned beards, flared sideburns and hair that went over the collar. Thurgood Marshall and William Brennan agreed with the officers that the 14th Amendment's "liberty" guarantee protected them since "an individual's personal appearance may reflect, sustain and nourish his personality." But William Rehnquist, writing for a six-Justice majority, said...

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