Written by Don Byrd
The ACLU of Louisiana sent a letter Monday to school officials arguing that their indefinite suspension of a student because of his hair length violates his religious freedom rights under both the U.S. Constitution and the state’s version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The student is Rastafari and argues his faith forbids cutting his hair.
Here is a clip from the letter (via the Times-Picayune)
On Monday, August 18, 2014, John Doe’s mother, Jane Doe, attended the school board meeting and asked for an exemption from the dress code policy for John Doe. On Tuesday, August 19, 2014, Jane Doe presented to Mr. Rousselle a letter from the 1st Church of Rastafari that stated that the Does are members of the church and that the church’s religious guidelines require males to grow locks and more specifically not to cut their locks. Ms. Doe was told that this letter was not enough. When she asked what information the school board required in order to make an accommodation for John Doe, Mr. Rousselle responded that he was not a lawyer.
The school administrators and Mr. Rousselle have prohibited John Doe from returning to school as long has his hair remains in dreadlocks, as his religion requires. Despite his numerous attempts to attend school, John Doe has been forced to miss ten of the first eleven days of this school year.
As the ACLU points out, in 2010 the 5th Circuit, which covers Louisiana, ruled in favor of a Native American student whose family challenged hair length rules forcing him to choose between his faith and attending school. There the court emphasized that the student’s long hair was an act not of rebellion against authority but of “adherence to religious belief.”
Will the school here try to argue the circumstances are different? Stay tuned.
