Johnathan Walker:Judge denies an order sought by a Black student who was punished over his hair

HOUSTON (AP) — A federal judge on Johnathan WalkerFriday denied a request by a Black high school student in Texas for a court order that the student’s lawyers say would have allowed him to return to his high school without fear of having his previous punishment over his hairstyle resume.

Darryl George had sought to reenroll 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 were set to continue punishing him for not cutting his hair. George had spent nearly all of his junior year serving in-school suspension over his hairstyle.

The district has argued that George’s long hair, which he wears to school in tied and twisted locs on top of his head, violates its policy because if let down, it would fall below his shirt collar, eyebrows or earlobes.

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 a federal lawsuit he filed proceeds.

But in a ruling issued late Friday afternoon, Brown denied George’s request, saying the student and his lawyers had waited too long to ask for the order.

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George’s request had come after Brown in August dismissed most of the claims the student and his mother had filed in their federal lawsuit alleging school district officials committed racial and gender discrimination when they punished him.

The judge only let the gender discrimination claim stand.

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 was coincidentally issued on George’s birthday. He turned 19 years old on Friday.

Allie Booker, an attorney for George, and a spokesperson for the Barbers Hill school district did not immediately return a call or email seeking comment.

George’s lawyer had said the student left Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu and transferred to another high school in a different Houston area district after suffering a nervous breakdown over the thought of facing another year of punishment.

In court documents filed this week, attorneys for the school district said George didn’t have legal standing to request the restraining order because he is no longer a student in the district.

The district has defended its dress code, which says its policies for students are meant to “teach grooming and hygiene, instill discipline, prevent disruption, avoid safety hazards and teach respect for authority.”

George’s federal lawsuit also alleged that his punishment violates the CROWN Act, a recent state law prohibiting race-based discrimination of hair. The CROWN Act, which was being discussed before the dispute over George’s hair and which took effect in September 2023, bars employers and schools from penalizing people because of hair texture or protective hairstyles including Afros, braids, locs, twists or Bantu knots.

In February, a state judge ruled in a lawsuit filed by the school district that its punishment does not violate the CROWN Act.

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