When the news broke last month that a Baltimore police officer had been disciplined for failing to shave -- during the visit of the soon-to-be-president, no less -- it apparently wasn't the first time this issue has come.

The officer, who has since retired, has an ailment known as pseudofolliculitis barbae, a skin condition nicknamed "razor bumps" that can cause infection and scarring "as a consequence of shaving." It's a condition that is most common in black males.

The 18-year veteran officer, Anthony L. Brown, alleges in his $17 million lawsuit that his supervisor handed him a razor and cream and ordered him to shave in front of his squad of officers. Maybe the city cops, or the city attorney's, should be aware of a similar case decided 20 years ago by the Maryland Court of Special Appeals.

The Daily Record reports in a story provided by the Capital News Service (full story here):

It has been nearly 20 years since the Court of Special Appeals took up [Donald] Boyd’s case and ruled that the University of Maryland at Baltimore Police Force’s no-beards policy discriminated against blacks. Still, beard bans persist across the nation and cops continue to clash with their agencies in increasingly expensive legal battles.