Hair Trigger.

• Author: Lynch, Michael W.
• Position: Court rules against California regulation of hair braiding - Brief Article

Friends of Taalib-Din Uqdah, a well-known advocate of African-style hair braiding, are familiar with his somewhat cryptic anti-regulation mantra. "How can you license what you do not teach?" Uqdah says. "How can you teach what you do not know?" In an August decision that struck down California's regulation of such hair braiding, U.S. District Judge Rudi Brewster repeated Uqdah's take on the matter and added, "The court agrees."

The ruling grew out of a case brought by JoAnne Cornwell, a professor of Africana studies and French literature at San Diego State University, who both braids hair and trains others to do so in her San Diego home. Although African-style hair braiding requires no on-site cutting or washing, Cornwell would have to pay more than $7,000 to attend a state-approved beauty school in order to receive the proper license. Says Cornwell, "We can function perfectly well without these unnecessary regulations."

In a 26-page decision, Brewster, a judge for the U.S. District...