A Trump-appointed federal judge in Texas ruled against a majority of the claims brought by a student who filed a lawsuit accusing school officials of racial and gender discrimination after he was punished because of his hairstyle.
As previously reported by Face2Face Africa, Darryl George, 18, has been embroiled in a legal battle with Barbers Hill school district and other defendants after he was punished for declining to change his hairstyle.
Per The Associated Press, Tuesday’s ruling by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown adds up to another win for the Barbers Hill school district. The district was adamant that George’s long hair, styled in tied and twisted locs atop his head, violates the school’s policy as it would extend beyond specified lengths when let down. The district also argued that other students with locs adhere to the length policy. The district additionally stated that the policy inculcates discipline and provides education on grooming as well as adherence to authority.
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However, Brown in his ruling touched on whether the policy by the school district caused more damage than being helpful. “Not everything that is undesirable, annoying, or even harmful amounts to a violation of the law, much less a constitutional problem,” Brown stated.
George had been barred from attending most of the normal classes at Barbers Hill High School during the 2023-24 academic year because the district was adamant the 18-year-old’s hair length went against its policy on how students should dress. He was rather made to serve an in-school suspension or attend an off-site disciplinary program.
George’s family lodged a formal complaint with the Texas Education Agency and initiated a federal civil rights lawsuit against Gov. Greg Abbott, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and the school district. The plaintiffs alleged a failure on the part of the authorities to enforce the CROWN Act – a law that makes discrimination linked to race-based hairstyles illegal.
But Brown in the ruling stated that George had not provided “a persistent, widespread practice of disparate, race-based enforcement of the policy”, The Associated Press reported. And though the lawsuit also accused the defendants of violating George’s First Amendment rights to free speech, Brown stated that the 18-year-old’s lawyer had failed to highlight any case law that concludes that hair length “is protected as expressive conduct under the First Amendment.”
Brown ultimately supported a sex discrimination allegation about the school district not properly outlining its policies on why girls could keep long hair but boys were not allowed to. “Because the district does not provide any reason for the sex-based distinctions in its dress code, the claim survives this initial stage,” Brown said.
