CIVIL RIGHTS SUIT

Greg Abbott Failed to Enforce Law Preventing Hairstyle Discrimination, Student’s Suit Alleges

The Texas’ governor and attorney general are accused of failure to enforce their own law.

A 17-year-old student and his mother are suing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton after the teen’s high school twice suspended him over his locs hairstyle, CNN reported. Barbers Hill High School suspended Darryl George for three weeks after taking issue with his hairstyle, which the school claims violates its dress code. George and his mother in turn filed suit against Abbott and Paxton, claiming the pair have failed to enforce their own law protecting against discrimination based on hairstyle, known as the CROWN Act. Their suit seeks to compel the Texas officials to prevent the high school from “exposing their students to disciplinary punishment and disciplinary measures due to locs, braid, twists and other protective styles that are alleged to be or that are longer than the District or schools’ length requirement.”