Justice Dept. Allows Messenger to Keep His Shirt On

--Power dressing it was not. In fact, when bicycle messenger Christopher Stalvey showed up at the Justice Department wearing a T-shirt that read: “Experts Agree! Meese Is a Pig,” an allusion to Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III, the courier was turned back at the door and told to return when he was more appropriately clothed. Stalvey, who argued for free speech, said he was told: “Would you go to the White House wearing a ‘Reagan is a Jerk’ T-shirt?” Justice Department spokesman Patrick S. Korten initially defended the action, telling the Washington Post: “Just as we would not permit somebody to come strolling in here with a bathing suit, for example, I think it’s reasonable to have some kind of standard.” But in a reversal, the department decided that anyone with legitimate business in the building can wear clothing critical of the attorney general. “The attorney general personally has no problem with anyone coming in wearing the T-shirt,” said spokeswoman Deborah Burstion-Wade. Stalvey said he discussed the case with the American Civil Liberties Union, which was considering bringing suit if the policy remained in effect.

--The great matador Manuel Benitez saw the blood test as an affront to his honor. But a court ruling in Madrid, Spain, saw it as guilt when the famed bullfighter, known as El Cordobes, refused to take the blood test that would aid in deciding a paternity suit brought by former live-in girlfriend Elizabeth Velasco. Calling his behavior “obstructionist,” three members of the five-judge Supreme Court ruled that the 52-year-old El Cordobes is the father of Velasco’s 19-year-old son, also named Manuel Benitez. Velasco, 38, who lives in Santa Monica, said the boy was conceived while she lived with the millionaire bullfighter from 1968 to 1972. Velasco originally filed a $2-million suit in 1982, but lost that suit and a subsequent appeal. Velasco then dropped her demand for a cash settlement.

--Sylvester Stallone, who played an arm wrestler in the movie “Over the Top,” was no match for an Australian policeman who beat the actor in an impromptu arm wrestling match at a Melbourne news conference. Patrolman Mark Gleeson, a finalist in a tough-man competition, won handily in the duel with Stallone, who was in Australia promoting his “Rambo III” movie.