Student loses bid to wear eagle feather on graduation cap

TULSA, Okla. (AP) – A Tulsa federal judge has ruled that an American Indian student at Caney Valley High School can't wear an eagle feather on her graduation cap.

Chief U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell accepted a magistrate's recommendation to deny senior Hayden Griffith's request for a preliminary injunction that would allow her wear the feather during her graduation ceremony Thursday.

Frizzell said Griffith failed to demonstrate a violation of the state's Religious Freedom Act or her rights to free speech or the free exercise of religion, the Tulsa World reported.

Griffith, 18, had sued the school district claiming her First Amendment rights were being violated by the district's dress code, which prohibited the decoration of caps.

Griffith is a member of the Delaware Tribe and said the feather was given to her by a tribal elder. Her attorneys argued that Griffith believed that it would be disrespectful to attend her graduation without a feather that was given to her specifically for the ceremony.

Griffith is the second American Indian student that hoped the courts would rule in their favor in wearing an eagle feather during their graduation this spring. A Southmoore High School senior had filed a lawsuit against the Moore School District over the enforcement of its dress code. Susan Alexander, on behalf of her daughter, dropped the suit Wednesday, citing only “intervening events.”

Possession of eagle feathers is illegal. An exception is made for federally recognized tribe members, who can obtain a permit to possess

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Information from: Tulsa World, http://www.tulsaworld.com