I got a call from my sister’s fiance the other day. They live in Memphis, Texas. Yes, TEXAS! It’s outside of Amarillo. It’s one of those town where the sheriff, the barber, and the town drunk are all the same person.

Anyway, Shane calls me and tells me that the school system sent home a note saying that my nephew has to cut his hair. His hair was a little bit longer than the base of his neck and they were forcing him to cut it. Shane and my sister pretty much told them to stuff it, but they said if he didn’t have it cut he would be placed in In School Suspension (ISS) until he cut it! Are you f’ing kidding me?! When did Texas become a liberal paradise where the government tells you how to cut your hair. It isn’t even a private school. They don’t have to wear uniforms. But, by golly, the boys will cut their hair.

Naturally I’m pissed about this. I had long hair growing up. It didn’t hurt my grades at all. Not doing my homework or studying hurt my grades, but I didn’t not do my homework or study because I had long hair. I even wore long, daggar and skull earrings and they didn’t affect my grades either. My nephew is a straight-A student, too, and they were going to put him in ISS BECAUSE OF THE LENGTH OF HIS HAIR!! What kind of fascist state has Texas become?! You leave to join the military and 15 years later the place has gone to hell! I need to really get back.

My sister did some research, but she’s not as versed in reading legal opinions as I am and assumed that she would lose if she went to court. So, I did some research as well. The first case I found (thanks to my sister’s initial research) is Breen vs. Kahl, which involved two students that were expelled for failing to cut their hair which was in violation of school policy. In that decision, the 7th Circuit court overturned the school and noted “The right to wear one’s hair at any length or in any desired manner is an ingredient of personal freedom protected by the United States Constitution.” The School Board argued that the rules were necessary because

“(1) a Williams Bay male high school student whose hair is longer than the Board’s standard so departs from the norm that his appearance distracts his fellow students from their school work, and (2) students whose appearance conforms to community standards perform better in school.”

The court told the school they were full of bull-pucky (Texan for crap) and responded to that faulty argument and said

“Defendants here have fallen far short of showing that the distraction caused by male high school students where hair length exceeds the Board standard is so aggravated, so frequent, so general, and so persistent that this invasion of their individual freedom by the state is warranted. The same is true of defendant’s showing with respect to the differential in school performance between male students with long hair and those with short hair.”

So, if the school board was right, why is my nephew a straight-A student and many of his peers with short hair not?

The next case I looked at, which cited the last case, was Crews vs. Cloncs. The student in this case was expelled from school because of his long hair and was not permitted admittance until he cut it. He went to court and the court ruled that “It is now clearly established that the state does not possess an absolute right arbitrarily to refuse opportunities such as education in public schools or employment in public service.” In other words, in a compulsory school system in which students are REQUIRED to be there, they cannot be denied opportunities for arbitrary reasons like hair length.

In this case, they school board tried to argue that shorter hair is more hygienic and “safe”. The court wisely called the school board on these absurdities. Gym teachers tried to testify that students could get their long hair caught in the trampoline or it could unsafely fall in front of the eyes while running, causing injury. A science teacher testified that it was dangerous when operation bunson burners. Seriously? How did the female students ever manage? Oh, they used hair nets. It would have been easier just to make the male students with long hair wear hair nets then. The court rejected those arguments, thankfully.

In ruling after ruling where schools have tried to impose sexist rules against boys that didn’t apply to girls, those rules have been struck down! Now, my sister doesn’t like to rock the boat. She cares deeply about her kids’ education – and should! But, instead of fighting this the way she should have, she acquiesced and cut his hair. Of course, I was livid and still am. They are too. They haven’t given up this fight locally and will continue to fight this. In the meantime, they want to ensure that my nephew isn’t singled out for ignorance by the school and stuck in ISS for the day.

In the coming days, I will be contacting the school board. They incorrectly told her that numerous courts had upheld cases in which kids sued when they were discriminated against for the length of their hair. They LIED to her to get her son to conform. They took away his individuality and common law rights. And I won’t stand for it!

The Texas State Constitution is very clear about where the law stands on this issue:

Sec.A3a. EQUALITY UNDER THE LAW. Equality under the law shall not be denied or abridged because of sex, race, color, creed, or national origin. This amendment is self-operative.

By forcing boys to live to a separate standard as girls is simply a constitutional violation, both federal and state. This is akin to forcing girls to have long and prohibit them from cutting it to look like a boy. Women’s rights groups wouldn’t live with and neither should “men’s rights groups” (why don’t we have those?) live with this.

What is liberty? Liberty is the freedom to do as you please, without interference, so long as you do not infringe on another’s right to the same. Basically, I can do whatever I like with my life and my body as long as I don’t infringe upon your right to what you will with your body and your life. The dictionary definition of liberty is “freedom from arbitrary or despotic government or control.”

Section 8 of the Texas Constitution guarantees that “No citizen of this State shall be deprived of life, liberty, property, privileges or immunities, or in any manner disfranchised, except by the due course of the law of the land.” Therefore, no citizen will be deprived of their constitutional freedom from arbitrary government stupidity like hair laws.

Now, you liberals out there may say that a hair length law is not arbitrary. Really? Then explain the rational that hair may not be longer than the bottom of the collar of the shirt. Why not the top of the collar? Why not the base of the neck? Why not force male students to keep their hair no longer than three inches or two inches or half an inch in length? Why stop at the eyebrows? Why not the bridge of the nose or the tip of the nose or the chin? Because this is an arbitrary regulation and, therefore, illegal and unconstitutional.

Our government is placing us under its heavy thumb in every aspect of our lives. It’s dictating what kind of cars we buy, what kind of light bulbs we have to have, what kind of life insurance we must maintain, what kind of value our money has, how fast we can drive from point a to point b (even in the middle of desert), etc. And we’re sitting by and just allowing it to happen.

When will we say enough is enough and fight for the true return of liberty? What will it take before we recognize we are no longer sovereign human beings?