The American Civil Liberties Union went to court in Long Beach, California, to block a new rule requiring school uniforms. The organization charged that the city's poor couldn't afford to purchase the uniforms, even though the school district had committed itself to providing uniforms to any child needing one. Proponents say that adoption of uniforms eliminates students' need to purchase expensive designer clothes, and that they decrease the incidence of violence and sexual assault while improving attendance. Still, ACLU president Nadine Strossen called the uniforms "enforced conformity."

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