Farrell v. Smith

• Decision Date: 18 March 1970
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 11-77.
• Parties: Joseph M. FARRELL, III, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Arthur SMITH, Director of Southern Maine Vocational Technical Institute, Kenneth Coombs, Assistant Director, Southern Maine Vocational Technical Institute, Joseph DeCoursey, Dean of Students, Southern Maine Vocational Technical Institute, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Maine

310 F. Supp. 732

Joseph M. FARRELL, III, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Arthur SMITH, Director of Southern Maine Vocational Technical Institute, Kenneth Coombs, Assistant Director, Southern Maine Vocational Technical Institute, Joseph DeCoursey, Dean of Students, Southern Maine Vocational Technical Institute, Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 11-77.

United States District Court, D. Maine, S. D.

March 18, 1970.

Cushman D. Anthony, Maine Civil Liberties, Inc., Portland, Me., for plaintiffs.

Sumner J. Goffin, Charles A. Lane, Portland, Me., for defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER OF THE COURT

GIGNOUX, District Judge.

This is an action brought under the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1964) to enjoin the expulsion of three hirsute students from their school. Jurisdiction is conferred by 28 U.S.C. § 1343(3) and (4) (1964). Plaintiffs are three students at the Southern Maine Vocational Technical Institute (SMVTI), an institution supported by State and federal funds and operated under the general supervision of the Maine State Department of Education. Defendants are the Director, Assistant Director, and Dean of Students at SMVTI. Plaintiffs challenge the constitutionality of the SMVTI hair regulations as a denial of rights guaranteed to them by the First, Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.

SMVTI is a public co-educational vocational institution located in South Portland, Maine, which currently enrolls approximately 700 students, including 14 girls, in ten training programs called "shops." Its purpose is to "provide salable skills" for service in industry. The specialized training offered by the Institute includes courses in automotive technology, building construction, electronics, machine tools, heating and air conditioning, applied marine biology, oceanography, and waste water treatment. With the exception of the federally-funded waste water treatment program, which is a one-year program, all "shops" are two-year programs. A high school diploma or its equivalent is required for admission to the student body. Tutition per year is about $500, and for the 182 boarding students, room and board is less than $500. Representatives of industry come to the school each year to recruit prospective employees from among the student body, and three-quarters of the school's graduates go directly into industrial employment.

Pursuant to the authority vested in them by statute,¹ the school officials have implemented a code of regulations covering the conduct of the students while on campus. Some of the regulations, particularly the Dress and Grooming Code at issue here, have been developed as the result of joint student-faculty-administration deliberations. The students are represented in such matters by a student council, which is composed of two members elected from each shop and which serves as liaison with the faculty and the administration.

In the Spring of 1969, a joint student-faculty-administration committee was formed to review the then existing Dress and Grooming Code. This committee met with various members of the faculty and administration, and also solicited and received suggestions from the student body as a whole. As a result of these deliberations, a new grooming code was prepared, approved by the student council, and adopted by the administration without further change. This grooming code reads, in relevant part, as follows:

STUDENT DRESS AND GROOMING REQUIREMENTS

(as developed by student government, faculty and administration)

Neatness of appearance and good grooming are expected of students at all times. Dress regulations are based on requirements for safety and personal hygiene. Further requirements may be imposed as they pertain to the separate departments:

1. Sideburns will not extend beyond the earlobes.

2. Hair cannot overlap a common type shirt collar, and hair must not extend beyond, or down over, the ears.

3. Beards are not allowed. Students are to be clean shaven. Deviation from this rule would require a medical permit. Mustaches are permitted but should not extend beyond the corner of the mouth, and should be neatly trimmed.

* * * * * *

Any student not abiding by these regulations will be denied admittance to class. Suspension from one class means suspension from all classes.

Flagrant violations of this policy will result in suspension from the Institute.

An appeal may be initiated through the Student Council President, then to the Dean of Students if need be.

The three plaintiffs in this action entered SMVTI in the one-year waste water treatment program in October 1969. They were respectively 18, 21 and 23 years old. All had beards, long sideburns or long hair on arrival, and when informed of the hair regulations, all shaved in conformity therewith. Thereafter, in November 1969, the school sponsored (most improvidently, it would appear) a beard growing contest among the students. That contest ended on January 12, 1970, and all beards were to be shaved off immediately. On January 13 plaintiffs Farrell and Williams presented themselves unshaven at the waste water class, and were told by the instructor that they would not be permitted to attend classes until they shaved. Later in the day they saw the Dean of students, who told them that they would be suspended from the school unless they shaved. On January 14 all three plaintiffs, including plaintiff Banks, were again refused admission to the waste water class by the instructor, and later in the day were told by the Dean that they would be expelled if they failed to comply with the hair regulations. On that day this suit was commenced by plaintiff Farrell, suing for himself and on behalf of all other students who currently had beards or wanted to grow them. The status quo was maintained until a hearing could be had on the merits, which hearing was held on January 22. At that time the Court denied plaintiff Farrell's request to maintain the suit as a class action, but permitted Banks and Williams to intervene as parties plaintiff. The Court also denied plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction and took under advisement their prayer for permanent relief.²

The testimony of the representatives of the student body, faculty and administration who testified at the hearing on January 22 was to the following effect: The revised grooming code, including the restrictions upon beards, sideburns and long hair, was the result of the considered judgment of the student, faculty and administration representatives who participated in its preparation that student appearance is a significant factor in creating job opportunities; that beards and long hair are prejudicial to effective employment opportunities in industry; that neat appearance and good grooming of the student body enhances the image of the school and its students among prospective employers recruiting on the campus; and that the economic welfare of the students would be best served by the hair requirements incorporated in the code. Additionally, the Dean of Students, who also serves as director of all job placement at SMVTI, testified that he has had wide experience and is closely familiar with the requirements of industrial employers;³ that the appearance of the students was a definite factor considered by prospective employers recruiting on the campus; and that a relaxation of the grooming code would jeopardize the good rapport, which over a period of twenty years the school has established with industrial employers, and would adversely affect the earning prospects of the student body as a whole. This testimony stands unshaken and uncontradicted. It is accepted by the Court.

At the time of their threatened expulsion, the three plaintiffs had beards, long sideburns or long hair which failed to conform to the standards prescribed by the code.⁴ No reason for their threatened expulsion is asserted other than violation of the hair code. The sole basis upon which defendants justify the restrictions upon beards and hair styles imposed by the code is the furthering of the employment prospects of the students upon their graduation from the school. The record contains no suggestion that plaintiffs' hair styles present a health problem, create a risk of physical injury to plaintiffs or to others, are indecent, interfere with the academic performance of plaintiffs or other students, or create disciplinary problems or disturbances of any kind; and defendants do not attempt to support the code upon any of these grounds.

At the outset, it is important to note what is not at issue in this case. First, it is not contended by any of the plaintiffs that their beards and hair styles are compelled by any religious considerations. Thus, whether this code would conflict with the free exercise of religious beliefs is not at issue here. See West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624, 63 S.Ct. 1178, 87 L.Ed. 1628 (1943). Second, plaintiffs have not urged that any health, medical or cosmetic reasons necessitate their whiskers, although apparently a sufficient showing of such could result in an exemption from the hair code.⁵ Third, plaintiffs make no contention that they were in any way attempting by their hair styles to communicate anything in particular. These plaintiffs uniformly stated that they grew their hair because they liked it that way and thought they looked good with whiskers; they expressly disclaimed that any element of protest was involved. See Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503, 89 S.Ct. 733, 21 L.Ed.2d 731 (1969); Wright, The Constitution on the Campus, 22 Vanderbilt L.Rev. 1027, 1037-1059 (1969). Fourth, plaintiffs disavow any argument that the regulations in question here are too vague or overly broad. See Soglin v. Kauffman, 295 F.Supp. 978 (W.D.Wisc.1968). Finally, no allegation is made, nor is there any evidence, that procedural due process has been denied. Neither the procedure used in adopting the code, nor the...