Jacobs v. Clark County School Dist.

Decision Date10 June 2005
Docket NumberNo. CVS041490RLHLRL.,CVS041490RLHLRL.
PartiesKimberly JACOBS, et al., Plaintiffs, v. CLARK COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT, et al., Defendants.
CourtU.S. District Court — District of Nevada

Allen Lichtenstein, Law Office of Allen Lichtenstein, Las Vegas, NV, JoNell Thomas, Law Office of Jonell Thomas, Las Vegas, NV, for Donald Dresser, Shane Dresser, Wendy Dresser, Lona Finley, Donald Jacobs, Kimberly Jacobs, Lynn Rose, Whitney Rose, Linda Rowley, Dwight Terry, Dwight Terry, Jr., Deanna Wright.

C.W. Hoffman, Donna Mendoza-Mitchell, Jeanne-Marie Pochert, Clark County School District, Legal Department, Las Vegas, NV, for Shirley Barber, Susan Brage-Wellman, Denise Brodsky, Clark County School Dist., Emelio Fernandez, Jr., Carlos Garcia, Ruth Johnson, Larry Mason, Sheila Moulton, Mary Veth Scow.

ORDER

HUNT, District Judge.

(Motion to Dismiss-# 17 Motion to Dismiss-# 22 Motion to Exceed Page Limit-# 24 Cross Motion for Partial Summary Judgment — # 29)

Before the Court is Defendants' Motion to Dismiss (# 17), filed December 7, 2005, and Defendant's substantially similar Motion to Dismiss (# 22), filed January 13, 2005. The Court has also considered Plaintiffs' Opposition (# 19), filed December 27, 2005; Defendants' Reply (# 20), filed January 10, 2005; Defendants' Supplement in Support of Defendants' Motion to Dismiss (# 25), filed February 24, 2005; Plaintiff's Supplemental Opposition (# 28), filed April 4, 2005; and Defendants' Supplemental Reply (# 31), filed April 25, 2005. Also before the Court is Defendant's unopposed Motion to Exceed Page Limit (# 24), filed February 24, 2005. Also before the Court is Plaintiff's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (# 29), filed April 4, 2005. The Court has also considered Defendants' Opposition (# 31), filed April 25, 2005, as well as Plaintiffs' Reply (# 33), filed May 15, 2005.

BACKGROUND

This case arises from Liberty High School's attempt to enforce a mandatory dress code on one of its students, and centers on the question of whether a Nevada law allowing for the creation of a mandatory dress code, a Clark County School District regulation adopted in accordance with the Nevada law, and the individually-named Defendants' enforcement of a mandatory school uniform policy constitute impermissible restraint on speech under the First Amendment.

Plaintiff Kim Jacobs and her father were the original Plaintiffs in this action. Kim was an Eleventh Grade student at Liberty High School in Las Vegas during the fall of 2004. At that time, Liberty High had implemented what it defined as a "Campus Wardrobe," requiring students to wear Khaki pants and either red, white, or blue shirts without any printed material thereon. Liberty High claims to have adopted its wardrobe requirement pursuant to NRS 392.458 and the original Clark County School District Regulation 5131 (hereafter Original CCSD Reg. 5131).

NRS 392.458 authorizes Nevada state school districts to implement mandatory uniform policies and states, in its entirety,

1. The board of trustees of a school district may, in consultation with the schools within the district, parents and legal guardians of pupils who are enrolled in the district, and associations and organizations representing licensed educational personnel within the district, establish a policy that requires pupils to wear school uniforms.

2. The policy must:

(a) Describe the uniforms;

(b) Designate which pupils must wear the uniforms; and

(c) Designate the hours or events during which the uniforms must be worn.

3. If the board of trustees of a school district establishes a policy that requires pupils to wear school uniforms, the board shall facilitate the acquisition of school uniforms for pupils whose parents or legal guardians request financial assistance to purchase the uniforms.

4. The board of trustees of a school district may establish a dress code enforceable during school hours for the teachers and other personnel employed by the board of trustees.

Pursuant to NRS 392.458, Clark County School District (hereafter CCSD) promulgated Original CCSD Reg. 5131, a regulation allowing schools to adopt a mandatory school uniform dress code and outlining the requisite actions a school must take to implement such a dress code. Original CCSD Reg. 5131 provides that CCSD schools may individually determine what is appropriate dress (Original CCSD Reg. 5131 I., II., and III., identified by Defendants as "dress restrictions" that fall short of constituting a mandatory school uniform policy), and may implement a "mandatory school uniform policy" (Original CCSD Reg. 5131 VI.) If a school desires to implement a mandatory school uniform policy, Original CCSD Reg. 5131 VI.A. provides that the school must survey all families at the school, with 51% of the surveys returned and indicating a 70% favorable response supporting school uniforms from the respondents, and the parent survey shall only present the question of whether a mandatory school uniform policy should be implemented. If the survey returns indicate that a mandatory school uniform policy is approved, notification of the adoption of the proposed policy is to be distributed to students, parents, and staff prior to the end of a current "school year," for implementation at the beginning of the subsequent school year. Original CCSD Reg. 5131 V.II.E. The Original CCSD Reg. 5131 VI.C. also provides that, where a mandatory school uniform policy has been implemented: (1) students must wear the uniform during regular school hours, subject to the principal's retained authority to grant exceptions for special occasions/events; (2) the uniform does not restrict wearing the uniform of a nationally-recognized youth organization such as the Boy Scouts or the Girl Scouts when those organizations have their meeting days; (3) a student is not considered noncompliant if wearing a school uniform violates the religious beliefs of a student or parent; (4) schools must assist in the purchase of uniforms for students who, for reason of financial hardship, cannot comply with the uniform policy; (5) parents who choose not to have their child participate in the uniform policy are eligible to apply for a zone variance so that their child may attend another school; (6) no student may receive a lowered grade because of non-compliance with the uniform policy; and (7) where a student fails to comply with the uniform policy, a conference must be held with the students' parent, and continued non-compliance will result in progressive disciplinary action. Liberty High defined its Campus Wardrobe policy as a "dress restriction" that did not amount to a mandatory student uniform policy, and asserted that such a dress restriction was exempt from the uniform policy requirements relating to the parental survey identified in Original CCSD Reg. 5131.

According to Defendants' uncontroverted factual statement and evidence, Kim was warned, reprimanded, and suspended over a six-week period for failure to abide by Liberty High's Campus Wardrobe policy, culminating in her indefinite suspension on October 27, 2004 pending a recommendation that she attend Cowan Behavior Program because of her continued non-compliance with the school's uniform policy. On October 28, 2004, Kim and her father brought suit against Clark County School District (hereafter CCSD) and various of CCSD's employees, alleging the violation of First Amendment Expressive and Free Exercise Rights and Fourteenth Amendment due process rights, and requesting a Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction barring the enforcement of the dress code for the duration of the litigation.

On October 29, 2004, this Court denied Plaintiffs' requested TRO, and on November 10, 2004, granted Plaintiff's requested Preliminary Injunction. The Injunction barred enforcement of the dress code policy against Kim during the litigation and was premised on the finding that Liberty High's Campus Wardrobe policy was in fact a mandatory student uniform policy under Original CCSD 5131, and that Plaintiffs were likely to prevail on the merits because Liberty High had failed to follow CCSD's own administrative regulations for enacting a mandatory dress code in that Liberty High did not conduct the requisite parent survey and that Defendants did not offer zone variances to students who did not wish to participate in the uniform policy. In the Order granting Preliminary Injunction, the Court specifically disclaimed that the Order in any way addressed the merits of the underlying First Amendment claims or applied in any way to any other of CCSD's schools that have enacted a mandatory dress code; notwithstanding, the Court noted as dicta its inclination to find that the Fifth Circuit's decision in Canady v. Bossier Parish School Board, 240 F.3d 437 (5th Cir.2001) had correctly applied Supreme Court precedents to find that a school district may impose content-neutral school uniforms without running afoul of the First Amendment, but that the Court held serious reservations respecting content-specific uniform exemptions made in CCSD Reg. 5131 for "nationally-recognized youth organizations such as the Boy Scouts or the Girl Scouts."

On November 18, 2004, CCSD promulgated Revised CCSD Reg. 5131, which was largely similar to the Original CCSD Reg. 5131 with a few notable exceptions. First, Revised CCSD Reg. 5131 removes the exemptions previously recognized for nationally-recognized youth organizations, such as the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Second, Revised CCSD Reg. 5131 eliminates the parental survey requirements set forth in Original CCSD Reg. 5131, and provides in its stead that a uniform policy may be implemented where 55% of the surveys returned indicate a desire to implement the policy, without making reference to how many families must respond to the survey and without requiring the school to survey all student families. Finally, Revised CCSD Reg. 5131...

To continue reading

Request your trial
10 cases
  • Waln v. Dysart Sch. Dist.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of Arizona
    • February 28, 2021
    ...enforcement of the dress code in relation to Larissa Waln's sought-after religion-based exemption. See Jacobs v. Clark Cty. Sch. Dist. , 373 F. Supp. 2d 1162, 1190 (D. Nev. 2005), aff'd , 526 F.3d 419 (9th Cir. 2008). Plaintiffs have not alleged facts indicating that the dress code, or the ......
  • Patrick v. Success Acad. Charter Sch., Inc.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Eastern District of New York
    • December 14, 2018
    ...superior to that offered by [his original school]") (citation and internal quotation marks omitted).15) Jacobs v. Clark Cty. Sch. Dist. , 373 F.Supp.2d 1162, 1183 (D. Nev. 2005) (finding defendants demonstrated plaintiff's "record in school ha[d] not suffered and that, in fact, she performe......
  • Jacobs v. Clark County School Dist.
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (9th Circuit)
    • May 12, 2008
    ...other constitutional infirmity with N.R.S. § 392.458, the Regulation, or the individual schools' uniform policies. See generally, Jacobs, 373 F.Supp.2d at 1162. Plaintiffs appeal this I. Justiciability Before turning to the constitutional claims lodged against the District's school uniform ......
  • Pinard v. Clatskanie School Dist. 6J
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (9th Circuit)
    • May 1, 2006
    ...Sch. Bd., 240 F.3d 437 (5th Cir.2001); Littlefield v. Forney Ind. Sch. Dist., 268 F.3d 275 (5th Cir.2001); Jacobs v. Clark County Sch. Dist., 373 F.Supp.2d 1162 (D.Nev.2005). Our circuit, however, has not invoked O'Brien in this We decline to apply O'Brien here for two reasons. First, the T......
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT