SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — An appeals court says an anti-discrimination
lawsuit involving Native American hair can go to trial in New Mexico.
The American Civil Liberties Union alleges that an English teacher in
Albuquerque cut off the end of one girl's braids and asked another if she was wearing a “bloody Indian” costume during a Halloween event in class.
A lower court that dismissed the suit, saying schools don't qualify as public accommodations under the state's civil rights law. The New Mexico Court of Appeals overruled that, ordering the case to be heard on its merits. Outrage over the girls' treatment propelled legislation prohibiting discrimination based on hairstyle or religious head garments.