Booth v. Maryland’s Empirical Analysis
2002
Citation profile
2 federal appellate ·
Relationships
Applies 42 U.S.C. § 1981 (Civil Rights Act of 1866) · 42 U.S.C. § 2000E (§ 701 of the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964)
Relies on Employment Division Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. L Smith · Kelley v. Johnson · Cook v. CSX Transportation Corp. · Pitsenberger v. Pitsenberger · American Life League, Inc. v. Reno
Most-quoted passages
The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 4 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.
“a. Hair shall be neatly groomed. Hair in front shall be groomed so that it does not fall below the band of the properly worn uniform headgear. Hair on the back of the head may not extend further than one quarter inch onto the collar. Hair on the side of the head may touch but shall not extend onto the collar. In no case shall the bulk, length, or height of the [hair], interfere with proper wearing of authorized uniform headgear, emergency equipment, or styled to impair the employee’s vision. The length!,] bulk, or appearance of hair shall not be excessive, ragged, or unkept. b. (Females) Buns, braids and ponytails shall be permitted on top of the head or back of the head, in a neat manner, provided they do not interfere with the proper wearing of authorized uniform headgear or emergency equipment and do not extend below the collar. Braids and ponytails not secured to the top of the head shall meet length standards outlined in [a]. c. Only traditional (i.e., historically acceptable for militaryAaw enforcement uniformed personnel), haircuts shall be permitted.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Booth v. State of MD“alleged failure to consistently enforce the rule against other employees does not qualify as a secular exemption. These employees enjoy no greater protection under the terms of the rule than does Booth. All of them are still subject to discipline for its violation. This allegedly inconsistent enforcement of the rule might form part of the basis of a prima facie case of religious discrimination pursuant to Title VII, but Booth has not made such a claim.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Booth v. Maryland“Booth has not brought a failure to accommodate claim pursuant to Title VII so I will not consider whether it would be an undue hardship for the defendants to grant him an accommodation. For the purpose of this motion, I will assume that there are no religious exemptions to the hairstyle policy.”
1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the majoritye.g. Booth v. Maryland
How this case has been treated — in progress
Whether each later court followed, distinguished, criticized, or overruled this decision. The treatment classification (task #35) runs highest-cited cases first and lights up here as it reaches this one.