GracieMae
07-21-2004, 12:41 AM
PROVIDENCE -- St. Raphael Academy can bar a long-haired student from attending the private Catholic school, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday after a two-year legal battle.
Russell Gorman III, who wears his hair in a long blond mullet, had won a temporary victory in 2002 when a Superior Court judge ruled that the school could not expel the student for refusing to cut his hair.
However, the state’s highest court ruled Thursday that private schools have leeway to enforce rules as long as they aren’t contrary to public policy.
"Saint Raphael is a private school and accorded by law wide latitude in promulgating its own rules, regulations and codes of conduct, and further ... there has been no showing that the hair-length regulation is against any law or public policy," Justice Paul Suttell wrote in the decision.
Neither Gorman nor his attorney, James Howe, could be reached for comment Thursday. Without addressing specifically the young man’s plans to cut or keep his hair, Howe did tell the Associated Press that Gorman plans to return to St. Raphael in the fall for his senior year of high school.
While ruling against him, Suttell opened his decision by praising Gorman as a fine student.
Gorman earned high grades and was active in numerous school clubs and sports teams.
"By all accounts, Russell Gorman III is an exemplary student at Saint Raphael Academy..his only offense being the length of his hair," the justice wrote.
Gorman had been wearing his mullet -- clipped close above the ears, flat on top and pony-tailed in the back -- for eight years before he ran afoul of a rules change instituted by Brother Daniel Aubin, FSC after he became the school’s principal.
Joseph Cavanagh, the lawyer representing the academy, said during the Superior Court case that Aubin decided to ban long hair because he wanted to improve lagging discipline at the school.
The changes were put into the next edition of the student handbook, which Gorman’s family refused to sign.
Howe, said the family had a contract with the school that lasted the duration of his attendance there -- presumably until he graduates in 2005. The attorney said SRA couldn’t change the rules arbitrarily.
"It was so clearly obvious there was a contract form here," Howe told The Times earlier this year.
Superior Court Judge Stephen Fortunato sided with Gorman, ruling that the school had acted arbitrarily and meanwhile could not take any action against the student.
The Supreme Court disagreed with the notion that paying tuition for a year barred the school from making anychanges down the road.
"We reject, however, any suggestion that the acceptance letter, together with any signed documents relative to Russell’s freshman year, created an enforceable contract of a four-year duration," Suttell wrote. "What is clear from the record is that Saint Raphael offered its students a one-year contract that was subject to renewal annually until the student graduated."
Neither Cavanagh, SRA’s lawyer, nor Aubin could be reached for comment Thursday.
Do you think the school was within their rights to suspend him till he cuts his hair? Is this a violation of his rights?
Russell Gorman III, who wears his hair in a long blond mullet, had won a temporary victory in 2002 when a Superior Court judge ruled that the school could not expel the student for refusing to cut his hair.
However, the state’s highest court ruled Thursday that private schools have leeway to enforce rules as long as they aren’t contrary to public policy.
"Saint Raphael is a private school and accorded by law wide latitude in promulgating its own rules, regulations and codes of conduct, and further ... there has been no showing that the hair-length regulation is against any law or public policy," Justice Paul Suttell wrote in the decision.
Neither Gorman nor his attorney, James Howe, could be reached for comment Thursday. Without addressing specifically the young man’s plans to cut or keep his hair, Howe did tell the Associated Press that Gorman plans to return to St. Raphael in the fall for his senior year of high school.
While ruling against him, Suttell opened his decision by praising Gorman as a fine student.
Gorman earned high grades and was active in numerous school clubs and sports teams.
"By all accounts, Russell Gorman III is an exemplary student at Saint Raphael Academy..his only offense being the length of his hair," the justice wrote.
Gorman had been wearing his mullet -- clipped close above the ears, flat on top and pony-tailed in the back -- for eight years before he ran afoul of a rules change instituted by Brother Daniel Aubin, FSC after he became the school’s principal.
Joseph Cavanagh, the lawyer representing the academy, said during the Superior Court case that Aubin decided to ban long hair because he wanted to improve lagging discipline at the school.
The changes were put into the next edition of the student handbook, which Gorman’s family refused to sign.
Howe, said the family had a contract with the school that lasted the duration of his attendance there -- presumably until he graduates in 2005. The attorney said SRA couldn’t change the rules arbitrarily.
"It was so clearly obvious there was a contract form here," Howe told The Times earlier this year.
Superior Court Judge Stephen Fortunato sided with Gorman, ruling that the school had acted arbitrarily and meanwhile could not take any action against the student.
The Supreme Court disagreed with the notion that paying tuition for a year barred the school from making anychanges down the road.
"We reject, however, any suggestion that the acceptance letter, together with any signed documents relative to Russell’s freshman year, created an enforceable contract of a four-year duration," Suttell wrote. "What is clear from the record is that Saint Raphael offered its students a one-year contract that was subject to renewal annually until the student graduated."
Neither Cavanagh, SRA’s lawyer, nor Aubin could be reached for comment Thursday.
Do you think the school was within their rights to suspend him till he cuts his hair? Is this a violation of his rights?