The legal aspects of male students' hair grooming policies in the public schools of the United States

This study was made to examine court decisions from the judicial circuits of the United States Courts of Appeals concerning length of male students' hair in the public schools of the United States. The study identifies the constitutional provisions given by students supporting choice of hairstyle and the reasons given by local school boards for regulating the lengths of male students' hair. The study shows that the first, second, fourth, seventh, and eighth judicial circuits have established that choice of hairstyle is constitutionally protected under the First, Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments. The third, fifth, sixth, ninth, and tenth circuits have supported school board claims that long hair on male students is unhealthy, unsanitary, and educationally disruptive