A federal judge did not issue an immediate ruling on Thursday after hearing legal arguments over whether to dismiss a lawsuit filed by who has alleged racial and gender discrimination over his monthslong punishment by his Texas school district for refusing to change his hairstyle.
, 18, has not been in his regular Houston-area high school classes since Aug. 31 because the district, Barbers Hill, says the length of his hair violates its dress code.
The district has argued that George鈥檚 long hair, which he wears to school in tied and twisted locs on top of his head, violates its policy because it would fall below his shirt collar, eyebrows or earlobes when let down. The district has said other students with locs comply with the length policy.
Darryl George and his mother, Darresha George, filed a last year over his punishment against the school district, the district superintendent, his principal and assistant principal as well as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The lawsuit alleges the defendants have taken part in or failed to prevent racial and gender discrimination against George through his ongoing punishment over his hairstyle.
鈥淚鈥檓 just happy that we鈥檙e here. We finally made it here. This is another stepping stone we have to cross. It鈥檚 been a long road and we will just be in this fight,鈥� Darresha George said after Thursday鈥檚 court hearing.
The suit alleges George鈥檚 punishment also violates the , a new state law that prohibits race-based hair discrimination. The CROWN Act, which took effect in September, bars employers and schools from penalizing people because of hair texture or protective hairstyles including Afros, braids, locs, twists or Bantu knots.
The suit also alleges George鈥檚 First Amendment rights to free speech and expression are being violated. For most of the school year, George, a junior, has either at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu or spent time at an off-site disciplinary program.
Allie Booker, George鈥檚 attorney, on Thursday told U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown the district鈥檚 policy is discriminatory and not race neutral. Booker alleged the school district was making religious exemptions for length of hair, but was not following the CROWN Act by not offering race-based protections.
Booker also argued the school district didn鈥檛 have clearly defined policies on why girls could be allowed to have long hair but boys could not.
Brown asked if there was any case law that indicated hair length is protected as expressive conduct under the First Amendment. Booker said she had not found any but said George鈥檚 lawsuit is a precedent-setting case and that self-expression in the form of a hair style does not have to be strictly tied to religious belief in order to be granted protection under the law.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not about the length of hair, it鈥檚 about acceptance for all in the same manner,鈥� Booker said after the court hearing.
Jonathan Brush, an attorney for the Barbers Hill school district, repeatedly told Brown the district鈥檚 policy is race neutral and that George鈥檚 lawsuit had not shown a sufficient pattern of racial discrimination by the district.
Brush said having different hair length restrictions for boys and girls 鈥渄oes not constitute discrimination鈥� and the district鈥檚 hair length policy would 鈥減ass muster鈥� in the workplace and the military.
Brush also said George鈥檚 First Amendment rights weren't being violated because the student failed to show 鈥渉is hairstyle communicates a message to the world.鈥�
Darresha George has said her son鈥檚 hairstyle has cultural and religious importance to him. that braids and other hairstyles carry cultural significance for many African Americans.
Brown said he was inclined to dismiss Abbott and Paxton from the lawsuit as well as some of the claims filed against the superintendent and school administrators. He said a final ruling would be issued at a later date.
In February, a in a lawsuit filed by the school district that its punishment does not violate the CROWN Act.
Barbers Hill鈥檚 hair policy was also challenged in a May 2020 federal lawsuit filed by two other students. Both withdrew from the high school, but one returned after a federal judge granted a temporary injunction, saying there was 鈥渁 substantial likelihood鈥� that his rights to free speech and to be free from racial discrimination would be violated if he was barred. That lawsuit remains pending.
George declined to speak after Thursday's hearing. Booker said that 鈥淒arryl鈥檚 a little sad鈥� because he鈥檚 had difficulty finding a job for the summer.
鈥淗e鈥檚 just afraid that some of the people that don鈥檛 agree with this case will hold it against him as they have been,鈥� Booker said.
