Parents of Native Children who had Hair Forcibly cut by School Employee Settle Lawsuit

As a result of nurses cutting the hair of two members of the Johnson-Leroy family without their consent and in violation of their religious convictions, the Cody-Kilgore Unified School District came under fire for violating the rights of its pupils.

In the most recent Nebraska legislature session, a state law was passed that forbade discrimination in public schools on the basis of hairstyle and tribal regalia in response to the campaign Our Hair is Sacred.

This month, the family won the case in court, receiving a $227,500 financial compensation as well as a watched-over and enforced consent decree.

“That includes the acknowledgment and recognition of Native American Heritage Month, of Indigenous Peoples Day at Cody-Kilgore Unified School District, there’s also going to be changes to the student and employee handbook to denote that no student’s hair should be cut.”

The family was represented in the case by the ACLU of Nebraska and the Harvard Law School Religious Freedom Clinic, who also worked to modify the law through legislation.

“I think this is just the beginning as far as Nebraska’s implementation of protections for tribal regalia, hair, and headdresses with the passing of the law,” Godinez said. “That law will go into effect in 2025. and the next step is for the Nebraska Department of Education to come up with a model policy that all school districts can implement.”

A press statement from the ACLU stated that the “consent decree and order notes that all parties agree that affording equal protection of students’ religious beliefs is essential to compliance with the U.S. Constitution and federal law and that this can best be achieved by a cooperative effort.”

“Initially we wanted an apology, so it’s not what we had initially wanted,” Alice Johnson said. “But our end goal was getting the consent decree, and we did get that policy change.”

The two-spirit couple never received that apology, but according to Norma Leroy, it has only strengthened them.

“I always tell people you know what you do in the dark comes out into the light,” Leroy said.

A Nebraska historical plaque detailing the more than 12,000 years of Native American history on the region’s land can be seen on the campus of Godinez’s alma mater, Creighton University. She remarked that perhaps this court ruling will become a new kind of milestone in Nebraska’s history in the future.

“This case and this example of haircuts only relive that trauma that Native Americans have gone through in the past,” Godinez said. “And we hope this consent decree and overall case and legislation serve as a lesson for all school districts to really teach them that history was not too long ago and it continues to repeat itself, maybe in different ways, but it is time now to reform that system and to adopt policies that are inclusive of all Native American students.”

“I’m feeling like we accomplished something,” Alice said in reporting by WOWT. “But I know we still have a long road to go.”