CROWN Act: What is it? Texas court makes a decision The punishment of a black kid for having dreadlocks “doesn’t violate law.”

A court decided on Thursday that the months-long penalty a black high school student received from his Texas school district for not wanting to modify his hairdo did not violate a recently passed state statute that forbids discrimination based on race in hairstyles.

Darryl George, 18, has not attended his usual high school courses in the Houston region since August 31 due to the Barbers Hill district’s claim that his hair length is inappropriate.

The district filed a lawsuit, claiming that George’s long hair, which he wears on top of his head in knotted and twisted locs, is against district rules because, when let down, it would fall below his shirt collar, eyebrows, or earlobes. According to the district, other pupils who have locs adhere to the length requirement.

After hearing testimony for roughly three hours in Anahuac, state District Judge Chap Cain III ruled in favor of the school district, stating that its policy is not discriminatory because the CROWN Act does not specify that long hairstyles that are legally protected—such as locs—cannot be exempted from this requirement. Additionally, he said that judges shouldn’t try to amend existing laws.

Judges shouldn’t enact laws from the bench, and Cain said that he was not going to do so today.

Crown Act: What is it?
Employers and educational institutions are not allowed to discriminate against employees or students based on their hair texture or protective hairstyles, such as Afros, braids, locs, twists, or Bantu knots, according to the CROWN Act, which went into effect in September.

The court advised George to bring up the matter with the state legislature or the school board.

George’s family has also accused the school district, Gov. Greg Abbott, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and the Texas Education Agency of violating the CROWN Act and has filed a formal complaint with the agency as well as a federal civil rights lawsuit. A Galveston federal judge is hearing the case.

George’s lawyer, Allie Booker, said that she will appeal Thursday’s ruling in addition to filing a request for an injunction in the federal case to halt George’s penalty.

George, a junior, has either spent time in an off-site disciplinary program or been placed on in-school suspension at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu for most of the academic year.

Barbers Hill Superintendent Greg Poole stated in a statement, “The Texas legal system has validated our position that the district’s dress code does not violate the CROWN Act and that the CROWN Act does not give students unlimited self-expression.”

The district simply submitted evidence, which included an affidavit from the superintendent of the district supporting the dress code regulation, without calling any witnesses. Its lawyers said that because the CROWN Act doesn’t address or address hair length, the dress code regulation doesn’t violate it.

George and his mother, Darresha George, expressed optimism prior to the trial.

“How I feel closer to my people is by wearing locs.” I feel more kin to my forefathers because of that. I’m the only one. I am that way,” George said.

George and his mother sobbed after the decision and refused to talk to the media.

George’s family representative Candice Matthews said that the 18-year-old questioned her as he was leaving the courts, asking, “All because of my hair? I have hair, therefore I can’t receive my education?”

Democratic state representative Ron Reynolds, a co-author of the CROWN Act, testified on behalf of George, stating that while the CROWN Act did not expressly specify hair length protection, it implied it.

According to Reynolds, “Anyone familiar with braids, locs, or twists knows it requires a certain amount of length.”

“It’s nearly hard for an individual to follow this (grooming) guideline and wear that protective hairstyle,” he said.

Reynolds expressed his disappointment with the decision and said that he will introduce a bill to amend the CROWN Act to include safeguards for hair length.

Reynolds said, “The legislation’s goal is to shield students like Darryl—the same students against whom Barbers Hill has practiced discrimination due to their braids, twists, and locs.”

The ruling made on Thursday was referred to as “a terrible interpretation of the CROWN Act” by U.S. Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman, a Democrat from New Jersey who has attempted to establish a federal version of the law.

Coleman said on X, “This is what we mean by institutional racism.”

Poole refuted claims in his statement that the district had a racial clothing code, stating that such claims jeopardize “efforts to address actions that violate constitutionally protected rights.”

Poole said that “being an American requires conformity” in a sponsored advertisement that appeared in the Houston Chronicle in January. She also claimed that schools in districts with conventional clothing codes do better academically and are safer.

Two more teenagers filed a federal complaint in May 2020 over Barbers Hill’s hair policy. After a federal court issued a temporary injunction, one of the two students returned to the high school, citing “a substantial likelihood” that his rights to free expression and to be free from racial discrimination would be violated if he was denied access. The legal action is still ongoing.