Littlefield v. Forney ISD

Citation268 F.3d 275
Decision Date26 September 2001
Docket NumberNo. 00-10965,00-10965
Parties(5th Cir. 2001) SISSY LITTLEFIELD; ET AL, Plaintiffs SISSY LITTLEFIELD; DAVID LITTLEFIELD; JOEL ODOM; SUSAN BECMER; NICHOLAS BECMER; ET AL, Plaintiffs - Appellants v. FORNEY INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT; KEITH BELL; KENNETH CLEAVER; CLARENCE DOGGAN; JAY CALVIN; JIM JACOBS; RICK TOWNSEND; DAVID WALKER; CHESTER J ST CLAIR, Defendants - Appellees
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (5th Circuit)

[Copyrighted Material Omitted]

[Copyrighted Material Omitted] Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas Before KING, Chief Judge, BARKSDALE, Circuit Judge, and NOWLIN, District Judge.*

KING, Chief Judge:

Plaintiffs-Appellants, individual students and parents of students in the Forney Independent School District, appeal the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendants-Appellees Forney Independent School District, Keith Bell, Kenneth Cleaver, Clarence Doggan, Jay Calvin, Jim Jacobs, Rick Townsend, David Walker, and Chester J. St. Clair. For the following reasons, we AFFIRM.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs-Appellants1 are students and parents of students who attend schools situated in the Forney Independent School District ("Forney") in Forney, Texas. Plaintiffs-Appellants sued Defendants-Appellees asserting several constitutional challenges to the mandatory school uniform policy ("Uniform Policy" or "Policy") adopted by Forney. Defendants-Appellees are Forney; Chester St. Clair, General Superintendent of Forney; and Keith Bell, Kenneth Cleaver, Clarence Doggan, Jay Calvin, Jim Jacobs, Rick Townsend, and David Walker, Members of the Forney Board of Trustees (collectively referred to hereinafter as "Defendants").

In the spring of 1999, Forney, acting pursuant to Texas Education Code § 11.1622 adopted a district-wide mandatory Uniform Policy applicable to its students. The Uniform Policy apparently originated as a result of the efforts of General Superintendent St. Clair, who observed the successful implementation of uniform policies employed in other Texas school districts. In addition to St. Clair, school board members and school officials conferred with their counterparts at other Texas public schools and reviewed studies on the efficacy of school uniform policies. As found by the district court,

St. Clair came to the conclusion that the implementation of a school uniform program would, according to his research, have the following beneficial effects on the students and the system as a whole: improve student performance, instill self-confidence, foster self-esteem, increase attendance, decrease disciplinary referrals, and lower drop-out rates.

See Littlefield v. Forney Indep. Sch. Dist., 108 F. Supp. 2d 681, 686 (N.D. Tex. 2000). Forney also sought input from parents regarding the proposed Policy. In March 1999, a "take-home" survey was sent home with elementary, middle, and junior-high school students in order to elicit parental approval of the proposed Uniform Policy. The district court found that, of the thirty-four percent of parents who responded, approximately sixty percent of that group was in favor of mandatory uniforms. Forney also conducted two "town hall" style meetings on the subject. At these meetings, parents were provided the opportunity to comment on the proposed Uniform Policy.

As a result of this information, the Forney School Board made factual findings that the school uniforms would improve the learning environment at the schools, and on April 19, 1999, adopted the Uniform Policy now at issue. The Uniform Policy applied to all 2,500 students in each of the schools within the district and was implemented at the beginning of the 1999-2000 school year.

The disputed Uniform Policy requires students to wear solid color polo-type shirts with collars, oxford-type shirts, or blouses with collars in one of four colors (white, yellow, red, or navy blue).3 The shirts may be either short- or long-sleeved but must be tucked in at all times. Students must also wear either blue or khaki colored pants, shorts, skirts, or jumpers. The shorts and skirts must be of appropriate size and length (no shorter than three inches above the knee). The Policy prohibits the wearing of, inter alia, denim, leather, suede, or vinyl, or any clothing that suggests gang affiliation, could conceal contraband, or could create a distraction. Certain other clothing items are also banned, such as open-heeled sandals, flip-flops, military boots, overalls, athletic pants, spandex, baggy clothing, and sleeveless shirts. The Uniform Policy also regulates the sizes of manufacturer logos permitted on clothing. Prior to the adoption of the Policy, Forney had a dress code that prohibited certain types of clothing deemed unsafe, immodest, or otherwise inimical to the educational process.

Forney asserts that the Uniform Policy was adopted to promote school spirit and school values, and "to promote decorum (and thereby the notion that school is a place of order and work), to promote respect for authority, to decrease socioeconomic tensions, to increase attendance, and to reduce drop out rates." Forney also asserts that it intended the Policy "to increase student safety by reducing gang and drug related activity as well as the likelihood of students bringing weapons to school undetected and by allowing teachers to more readily distinguish Forney students from outsiders."

Failure to comply with the Uniform Policy results in disciplinary action, which could lead to expulsion. As stated in the Forney District-Wide Student Handbook, "if a non-exempt student attends school in violation of this uniform policy, the following disciplinary steps will be taken in order: [1] the student will be placed immediately in isolation on the campus, either until the parent can bring appropriate clothing or for the entire day, whichever comes first; [2] the student will be sent to BAM [Behavioral Adjustment Modification] for a minimum of 3 days for the second infraction; [3] if the student still refuses to comply, the student will remain in BAM for a maximum of two weeks; [4] if the student still refuses to comply following the two week BAM assignment, the principal will pursue due process for AEP [Alternative Education Program] or expulsion."

In compliance with the requirement of Texas Education Code § 11.162(c), the Uniform Policy includes an "opt-out" provision whereby parents and students with "bona fide" religious or philosophical objections to the wearing of a uniform can apply for an exemption to the Policy. The opt-out provision requires parents to request an Application for Exemption and fill out a questionnaire designed to gauge the sincerity of the beliefs of those parents who assert objections. This questionnaire asks whether the student has ever participated in any of a number of activities that would have required him or her to wear a uniform.4 Families granted exemptions from the Uniform Policy must reapply each school year. A three-step grievance system was created to address issues arising from the opt-out procedure.5

The district court found that the parents of seventy-two students sought exemptions from compliance with the Uniform Policy, of which twelve exemptions were granted.6 A few of the Plaintiffs-Appellants were within the group of students who were granted exemptions from the Policy. Most students who had based their objections on philosophical or religious grounds were denied exemptions because they had worn some type of uniform in the past.

Several Plaintiffs-Appellants unsuccessfully sought exemption from the Uniform Policy through established administrative channels. Other Plaintiffs-Appellants refused to respond to the questionnaire based on constitutional or personal objections. Plaintiffs-Appellants then brought suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 seeking declaratory and injunctive relief and damages.

Relevant to this appeal, Plaintiffs-Appellants bring three separate, substantive constitutional challenges to the Uniform Policy. First, the student-Plaintiffs-Appellants subject to the Uniform Policy assert that the compulsory wearing of uniforms violates the First Amendment because the wearing of uniforms is both a form of coerced speech, in that, it compels them to express ideas with which they may not agree, and, at the same time, it is an infringement on free expression, in that it prevents them from freely expressing particular messages they do wish to convey. Second, the parent-Plaintiffs-Appellants claim that the compulsory Uniform Policy violates their "fundamental" right to control the upbringing and education of their children in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Finally, four family-Plaintiffs-Appellants (parents seeking relief on behalf of their children), who sought exemption from the Uniform Policy on religious grounds, allege that the existing opt-out procedures restrict their freedom to exercise their religious beliefs in violation of the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment because the opt-out questionnaire and hearing procedures impermissibly delve into the substance of their religious beliefs. Further, these four family-Plaintiffs-Appellants contend that the opt-out procedures favor certain established religions at the expense of other religions and thus violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

Defendants filed a motion to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) and moved for summary judgment based on qualified immunity. The district court treated the motion to dismiss as a motion for summary judgment and granted summary judgment in favor of Defendants, concluding that no constitutional violation occurred in this case. The district court did not reach the qualified immunity issue.

Plaintiffs timely appeal the grant of summary judgment.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

This court reviews a grant of summary judgment de...

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