Montalvo

This case involves the validity of a school regulation at Thomas Jefferson Junior High School in Madera limiting the hair length of students attending that public institution. After due notice the minor plaintiff, who was 14 at the time, was suspended on the opening day from the seventh grade for his refusal to comply with the hair regulation then in effect. Three days later he was reinstated after complying with the regulation by getting a haircut. This action in declaratory relief immediately followed.

At the commencement of the trial it was stipulated that the hair regulation was duly adopted, that the minor appellant, Daniel Montalvo, was in fact in violation of the regulation, and that he was suspended because of such violation. It was further stipulated that the pertinent issues of law were:

*327 After a three-day nonjury trial the court rendered its decision for the school district and against the appellant. Findings of fact were waived. The judgment, among other matters, recites: “That the California Legislature is vested with the power to carry out the mandate of the operation of a free public school system in California. (California Constitution, Article 9,…

I dissent. I agree with that part of the opinion which concludes that since the school board has the authority to establish rules governing attendance, it may invoke reasonable regulations concerning a student’s dress and condition of his hair.

Admittedly, such rules of conduct circumscribe a student’s freedom to *338 a certain extent. This is not novel; traffic laws, zoning laws, and ecologically motivated restraints likewise restrict the conduct of an individual. Such intrusions upon broadly defined constitutional freedoms are essential when the welfare and continued existence of society are weighed against the freedom of the individual to do as he pleases.

The matrix of our complex social structure is the Constitution; thus it is implicit in the Constitution itself that the rights of an individual may be impinged upon when such limitations are reasonably related to the overall purpose inherent in the Constitution. The California Supreme Court, in Serrano v. Priest, 5 Cal.3d 584 [ 96 Cal.Rptr. 601 , 487 P.2d 1241 ], held education to be a social function in which the public interest is paramount. Quoting from the United States Supreme Court, the California court said, at page…

BROWN (G.A.), J.

This case involves the validity of a school regulation at Thomas Jefferson Junior High School in Madera limiting the hair length of students attending that public institution. After due notice the minor plaintiff, who was 14 at the time, was suspended on the opening day from the seventh grade for his refusal to comply with the hair regulation then in effect. Three days later he was reinstated after complying with the regulation by getting a haircut. This action in declaratory relief immediately followed.

At the commencement of the trial it was stipulated that the hair regulation was duly adopted, that the minor appellant, Daniel Montalvo, was in fact in violation of the regulation, and that he was suspended because of such violation. It was further stipulated that the pertinent issues of law were:

(a) Whether the governing board of said school district under the California and federal Constitutions could regulate the length and style of hair.

(b) Whether or not the hair regulation in question was constitutionally reasonable.

After a three-day nonjury trial the court rendered its decision for the school district and against the appellant. Findings of…