A student attending a local charter school in Detroit has been suspended for refusing to cut his hair.
Claudius Benson, 14, has not had a hair cut in ten years, and officials at Old Redford Academy say the boy’s long hair is a violation of school dress code. Old Redford requires males to have “close cropped” hair, according to an article appearing on BET‘s website.
His mother, however, is not going down without a fight. Alesha Benson has enlisted the American Civil Liberties Union and will file suit against the school. The Benson‘s—following the messianic Jewish traditions—allege that Old Redford is infringing on Claudius‘ constitutionally protected right of religious expression.
Alesha Benson cites Leviticus 19:27 from the King James Bible which states: “Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard.”
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A representative from Old Redford recently notified the ACLU that the case will be transferred to the U.S. District Court in Detroit.
The ACLU seeks to have a religious exemption made for Benson and wants the school to remove the suspension from his record.
Benson has been out of school for more than a month.
In other school related news, a 16-year-old female in Palmdale, California suffered a broken wrist at the hands of a school security guard over a piece of cake.
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After celebrating the birthday of another student, Knight High School student Pleajhai Mervin was bumped while exiting the cafeteria, spilling a piece of cake. A school security guard told Mervin to clean up the cake—which she promptly did. After two attempts at cleaning the spill, Mervin headed to class, where she was called out a third time by the guard.
This time a verbal altercation ensued and Mervin found herself face down on a table, with the guard twisting her arm behind her back, yelling “hold still, nappy head” during the incident.
Mervin suffered a broken wrist as a result and was also arrested for battery.
Another student, who captured the incident on a cellular phone, was tackled by a guard and two more students who tried to aid Mervin were arrested for battery as well.
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When Mervin‘s mother, Latrisha Majors arrived at Knight High School to demand an explanation, she too, was arrested on battery charges.
As a result, Majors—who works for another Southern California school—was suspended without pay. She plans to fight the charges.
The security guard involved has been accused of using racial slurs in the past remains on administrative leave.
Members of the surrounding community have rallied behind the group, now dubbed The Palmdale Four.
