HOUSTON (AP) — A federal judge on Friday denied a request from a black high school student in Texas for an injunction that the student's attorneys said would have allowed him to return to his high school without fear of his previous punishment because of his haircut. cv.
Darryl George had attempted to re-enroll at his Houston-area high school in the Barbers Hill School District after leaving at the start of his senior year in August because district officials would continue to punish him for not cutting his hair . George had spent almost his entire school year on suspension because of his haircut.
The district has argued that George's long hair, which he wears to school in tied and twisted locks on top of his head, violates policy because, when left loose, it extends below the collar, eyebrows or earlobes would fall off his shirt.
George, 19, had asked U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown in Galveston to issue a temporary restraining order that would have prevented district officials from further punishing him if he returned and while he filed a federal lawsuit.
But in a ruling issued late Friday afternoon, Brown denied George's request, saying the student and his attorneys waited too long to seek the order.
George's request came after Brown in August dismissed most of the claims the student and his mother filed in their federal lawsuit alleging that school district officials committed racial and gender discrimination when they disciplined him.
The judge only upheld the claim on the grounds of gender discrimination.
In his ruling, Brown said he also denied George's request for a temporary restraining order because the school district was more likely to prevail in the lawsuit's remaining claim.
Brown's ruling happened to be issued on George's birthday. He turned 19 on Friday.
Allie Booker, an attorney for George, and a spokesperson for the Barbers Hill school district, did not immediately return calls or emails seeking comment.
George's attorney had said the student dropped out of Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu and transferred to another high school in another district of Houston after suffering a nervous breakdown at the thought of another year of punishment.
In court documents filed this week, attorneys for the school district say George has no legal standing to seek the restraining order because he is no longer a student in the district.
The district has defended its dress code, saying the policy for students is intended to “teach grooming and hygiene, instill discipline, avoid disruption, avoid safety hazards and teach respect for authority.”
George's federal lawsuit also alleged that his sentence violated the CROWN Act, a recent state law that prohibits race-based discrimination against hair. The CROWN Act, which was debated before the dispute over George's hair and came into effect in September 2023, bans employers and schools from penalizing people because of hair texture or protective hairstyles, including Afros, braids, locs, twists or Bantu buttons.
In February, a state judge ruled in a lawsuit filed by the school district that the punishment did not violate the CROWN Act.
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