The suspension of a black student because of his hairstyle was not against the law, a judge in Texas has ruled

A Texas judge ruled Thursday that a school district’s dress code, used last year to suspend a Black student for refusing to change the way he wears his hair, did not violate a state law intended to was to prohibit discrimination against people based on race. on their hairstyle.

The student, Darryl George, 18, has locs, or long, rope-like locks of hair, which he pins on his head in a barrel-shaped roll, a protective style that his mother said reflected black culture. Since the start of his freshman year last August, he has faced a series of disciplinary actions at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Houston, after refusing to cut his hair. He was separated from his classmates, disciplined, suspended from school and sent to an off-campus program.

Thursday’s hearing in the 253rd Judicial District Court in Anahuac was in response to a lawsuit filed in September by the Barbers Hill Independent School District. The filing alleged that Mr. George was “in violation of the District’s dress and grooming code” because he wears his hair “in braids and twisted” at a length that extends “below the top of the collar of a T-shirt, under the eyebrows, and/or under the earlobes when lowered.”

The district asked State District Judge Chap B. Cain III for clarification on whether this was the case the dress code violated a state law called the Texas CROWN Act, as the defendants, Mr. George and his mother, Darresha George, allege. The law, which came into effect on September 1, says: school district policies “may not discriminate against a hair texture or protective hairstyle that is commonly or historically associated with race.” Hair length is not specifically mentioned.

Allie Booker, an attorney for the Georges, said she would appeal the ruling.

The lawsuit was the latest development in a case that has led to critical scrutiny of education policy and racial discrimination in the United States. At least 24 states have passed laws that make it illegal to discriminate against students or employees because of their hairstyle.

The case involving Mr. George began shortly after school officials objected to his locs and told Mrs. George that the length of her son’s hair, even though it was tied back, violated the dress code of the district. The district subjected him to penalties, including suspension, after he refused to comply.

Ms. George and her son filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in September in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who signed the law, and the state’s attorney general, Ken Paxton, who said that they had allowed the law. school to break the law.

Their lawsuit seeks a temporary injunction to halt Darryl’s suspension while the case moves through the federal court system, and accuses Mr. Abbott and Mr. Paxton of “intentionally or recklessly” causing Ms. George and Darryl emotional distress by failing to comply to grasp.

Supporters of the family, including lawmakers and activists, also said the measures were against the law CROWN Act.

The family’s lawsuit states that Mr. George wears locs as an “expression of cultural pride” and claims his protections under the federal Civil Rights Act are being violated because the dress code disproportionately affects black male students.

In October, Mr. George was transferred to an off-campus disciplinary program. He was allowed to return to his high school in December, but was then suspended from school again, this time for 13 days.

In January, the school district’s superintendent, Greg Poole, defended the policy in an advertisement published in The Houston Chroniclesaying that districts with dress codes are safer and have better academic performance, and that “being American requires conformity.”

Kitty Bennett research contributed.