Booker
GALVESTON, Texas - The lawyer for a dreadlocked student sent to the high school version of solitary confinement because of his hair-length has been punished for mistakes in her briefs, including made-up quotes.
Texas federal judge Jeffrey Brown on July 24 wrote that Allie Booker and Joseph Plumbar did not intentionally make those errors when submitting papers also featuring inaccurate citations, but nonetheless ordered them to complete three hours of continuing legal education on a subject related to federal civil procedure.
"Booker and Plumbar admit the brief at issue is littered with inaccurate citations, but chalk them up to inadvertent errors arising from an inexplicable repaginating of the documents they obtained in discovery," Brown wrote.
"The court does not doubt counsel acted without malice. That said, Booker and Plumbar's justification engenders skepticism. The district puts it well - 'How can a transposition error create a quote a witness never said?'"
Brown has ruled Barbers Hill Independent School District did not discriminate against student Daryl George on the basis of sex. It had put in place a grooming policy that had a hair-length limit for males.
George was placed in in-school suspension in 2023 because his dreadlocks extended past the top of his shirt collar. Barbers Hill ISD says the requirement teaches the importance of grooming but it does not apply to female students.
George spent his entire junior year in in-school suspension and most of the claims in his lawsuit were rejected in an August opinion by Judge Brown that has since been appealed.
Also that August, he was placed in ISS to begin his senior year, leading him to transfer out of Barbers Hill High School. He cited mental health problems caused by that much time in ISS.
Last month, Brown tossed the remaining sex discrimination claim. Judge Brown said new arguments by Barbers Hill show the grooming policy is important to prepare students for their eventual careers. Texas law even requires public schools to prepare students for college, work or the military.
One study showed that the 1,400 Texas high schools with grooming policies have lower disciplinary infractions and fewer dropouts.
"The policy prepares male students for a job they are statistically likelier to have and may be compelled to take," Brown wrote. "Moreover, it's legal for employers to differentiate based on sex in their dress codes."
As for George's lawyers, on May 21, Barbers Hill wrote Booker erroneously claimed the district changed its policy in 2023 to target him when in fact, the hair-length restriction was implemented four years earlier.
Quotes from district officials were inaccurate, Barbers Hill said. It went so far as to file a six-page appendix identifying what it said were misstatements in Booker's brief.
Booker and Plumbar had a duty to ensure the accuracy of facts supporting their client's argument, Brown wrote in doling out the punishment. Proofreading could have accomplished that.
"Precedent applying intermediate scrutiny to gender-discrimination claims is well settled and relatively straightforward," Brown wrote.
"Counsel had adequate time to draft George's summary-judgment response and verify its accuracy."
