Judge dismisses most claims in federal lawsuit filed by black Texas student punished over hairstyle

HOUSTON (AP) — A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed most of the claims in a lawsuit filed by a black high school student who alleged that school officials committed racial and gender discrimination when they punished him for refusing to change his hairstyle.

The ruling was yet another victory in the case of the Barbers Hill School District near Houston, which says its policy restricting hair length for male students instills discipline while teaching grooming and respect for authority.

But in your order, US District Judge Jeffrey Brown questioned whether the school district’s rule causes more harm than good.

“Not everything that is undesirable, irritating, or even harmful amounts to a violation of the law, much less a constitutional problem,” Brown wrote.

The Associated Press left phone and email messages seeking comment from the school district and George’s attorney, Allie Booker, on Tuesday.

Jorge, 18 years old, was kept out of their regular high school classes for most of the 2023-24 school year, when he was a junior, because the school district said the length of his hair violated the dress code. George too served suspension at school at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu or spent time in an external disciplinary program.

The district argued that George’s long hair, which he wears to school tied and twisted on top of his head, violates its policy because it would fall below his shirt collar, eyebrows or earlobes if loose. The district said other students with locs comply with the length policy.

George and his mother, Darresha George, filed suit federal civil rights lawsuit last year against the school district, the district superintendent, its principal and deputy principal, as well as Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The suit also alleged that George’s punishment violates the CROWN Law, a new state law that prohibits hair discrimination based on race. The CROWN Act, which was being discussed before the dispute over George’s hair and which took effect in September, prohibits employers and schools from penalizing people because of their hair texture or protective hairstyles, including afros, braids, locs, twists or we Bantu.

The lawsuit alleged that the school district’s policy was being applied primarily to black students. But Brown said George did not demonstrate “a persistent and widespread practice of applying the policy in a disparate, race-based manner.”

The suit also alleged that George’s First Amendment rights to free speech were being violated. But Brown wrote that George’s lawyer could not cite any case law that held that hair length “is protected as expressive conduct by the First Amendment.”

Brown rejected several allegations that George’s due process rights under the 14th Amendment were being violated. He also removed Abbott, Paxton, the district superintendent and other school officials from the case.

The only allegation he set aside was an allegation of sexual discrimination based on the school district’s lack of clearly defined policies about why girls could have long hair but boys could not.

“Because the district does not provide any reason for the sex-based distinctions in its dress code, the allegation survives this initial phase,” Brown said.

Brown’s order comes after a state judge in February ruled in a lawsuit filed by the school district that his punishment does not violate the CROWN Act.

At the end of his ruling, Brown highlighted a 1970 case in which a judge ruled against a school district in El Paso, Texas, that attempted to deny the enrollment of a male student because the length of his hair violated district policy. The El Paso judge’s ruling was later overturned by an appeals court.

The judge in the El Paso case wrote that “the presence and enforcement of the haircut rule causes far more disruption to the classroom teaching process than the hair it purports to prohibit.”

“Sadly, the same thing happens here,” Brown said in reference to George’s case.

Barbers Hill’s hair policy was also challenged in a May 2020 federal lawsuit filed by two other students. Both dropped out of high school, but one returned after a federal judge granted an injunction, saying there was a “substantial likelihood” that his rights to free speech and freedom from racial discrimination would be violated if he were barred. This process is still pending.

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