Earrings may be fine on pirates and punk-rockers, but not on policemen in rural Peotone, an appellate court ruled.
The 7th U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Monday patrolmen Gary Zybak and Marvin Rathert cannot wear their ear studs - even when off duty."I really shouldn't comment about the appellate court ruling without talking to my attorney, but one thing is certain - I'm not quitting the force or leaving Peotone," Zybak said Monday night in a telephone interview.
"I'm very happy here, I've been here since 1968, and I consider it my hometown."
Hometown values prevailed in the appellate decision, which upheld an earlier ruling by U.S. District Judge James Holderman in favor of Police Chief Gary N. Bogart and other officials in Peotone, 45 miles south of Chicago.
"The record shows that even some family members and officer colleagues were disturbed by the ear studs as much as were the city officials," wrote Appeals Judge Harlington Wood Jr.
"It is obvious from the record that the plaintiffs not only caused an adverse impact on police discipline, esprit de corps and uniformity . . . but caused great public dissatisfaction as well," Wood added.
Zybak and Rathert bought the studs and had their ears pierced in December 1986 at a jewelry store in Matteson. Zybak said he and Rathert were just trying to make an off-duty fashion statement.
"We didn't mean to wear them on duty, but unfortunately, when you first get your ears pierced, you have to keep the studs in for about six weeks so they won't close up," he said. "On-duty, we kept Band-aids over them, but that wasn't good enough, I guess."