Federal court orders school officials to admit student suspended for wearing nose piercing to school

A federal district court judge ordered a North Carolina high school to admit a student who was suspended for wearing a nose piercing that she said was part of her religion.

In Iacono v. Croom, 2010 WL 3984601 (E.D.N.C. 2010), the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit against various Johnston County school officials on the behalf of a 14-year-old student, and her mother. The student was suspended four times for violating the county-wide ban on facial jewelry. School officials denied her appeal to return to school following her fourth suspension.

The plaintiffs asserted she should be exempt from the school's dress code policy that prohibits facial jewelry based on religious grounds. The student and her mother are members of the Church of Body Modification, a religious group that practices modern and ancient body modification rituals – such as piercing, scarring, tattooing, and suspensions – as a way to strengthen the connection between body, mind and soul.

According to the Plaintiff, enforcement of the ban violated their rights under the Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment, the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The court issued a temporary restraining order against the defendants, prohibiting them from enforcing the ban against the student as to her nose piercing and ordering them to immediately admit the student. In making its finding, the court noted that the plaintiffs have shown a likelihood of success on the merits, particularly as to their claim that the district violated their rights under the Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment.