Legal system grinds on in Tigger skirt case
I was sure I’d written about this when it happened, but a search of the archives says otherwise. Some months back, a girl was disciplined for violating a public school’s dress code because she wore a denim skirt and socks with a picture of Tigger on them. The dress code was instituted by the school in an effort to reduce gang-related violence by prohibiting denim, multi-colored clothing, and solid colors outside of a fairly narrow set of choices.
Expecting gang members to avoid gang-related activities simply because they are no longer allowed to wear what they would otherwise wear seems far-fetched. If I were running a gang, I would simply find some other indicator that doesn’t violate the policy but still allows my gang members to identify each other. Disciplining children who violate the policy who are clearly not wearing clothes that are some kind of gang marker is just asinine - a simple note home reiterating the dress code should be sufficient.
The school, in Napa, California, has since found itself in a legal battle with the ACLU. The lawsuit seeks to eliminate the dress code altogether as a violation of First Amendment free speech rights. I doubt that a dress code enforced in a more realistic manner would have necessarily triggered such a lawsuit. In all likelihood, the dress code will be going away.
More details on this update can be found in the San Jose Mercury News.