Victory!

In the spring of 2020, Alice Johnson and Norma LeRoy sent their two children to school at Cody Kilgore Elementary School. When the children returned home, Alice and Norma noticed hair missing from both children. A school employee had cut their hair during lice checks – violating their traditional and religious Lakota beliefs.  

After the family voiced concerns, their hair was cut again.  

The school’s written head lice policy includes no mention of cutting hair. The case argues this unwritten practice was instead applied only to Native American students and violates the family’s First Amendment right to freely exercise their religion and Fourteenth Amendment of both mothers to direct the religious upbringing of their children.

Their children’s First Amendment right to receive an education free of cultural and religious discrimination was violated, and we are working to hold Cody Kilgore Unified School District and individuals involved accountable. 

May 2021 case announcement 

Nov. 2021 update: Judge rules key claims can move forward 

Harvard Law Clinic joins Nebraska religious freedom case

VICTORY! Lakota Family and Cody-Kilgore Unified School District Settle Religious Freedom Case with Consent Decree

We helped Makayla Townsell seek accountability after an Omaha Police officer arrested her in a house full of family and friends on Thanksgiving for charges that were later dismissed. 

During a Thanksgiving dinner in 2019, Makayla and her family were enjoying dinner when two Omaha Police officers knocked on her door to conduct a wellness check on her then 17-year-old son. They were responding to a Child Protective Services tip. Townsell’s son spoke privately with officers and never alleged any abuse. He told the officers he had been arguing with his mother but the situation was resolved.  

When one officer stepped away, the other became agitated and declared Makayla was under arrest. He grabbed her arm, brandished a taser, and handcuffed Makayla in front of her family, including her toddler who was in tears.  

Following her arrest and release, Makayla requested a copy of the police report and found inaccurate information about that evening’s events. After voicing her concern with the OPD’s  Internal Affairs Unit, she received a letter from Chief Todd Schmaderer confirming her concerns were supported by an internal investigation and that the officer involved would be recommended for disciplinary action. 

Case announcement. 

Case successfully settled. 

In July 2020, a Dixon County judge denied a couple's petition to adopt a child simply because they were listed in their petition as "wife and wife."  

Our clients had been doing everything right. They had completed all the required relinquishments, consent forms and completed a required home visit and background checks. Then came the judge’s decision.

Adoption equality is Nebraska’s plain letter of the law and the law of the land. Nebraska law as written, the Constitution and the marriage equality decision in Obergefell v. Hodges all pointed to the same conclusion.

We argued the case before the Nebraska Supreme Court and the justices unanimously sided with our clients. 

The Court’s decision affirmed that state adoption laws allow any married couple to adopt, provided both partners are listed on the adoption form. They ordered the adoption process to proceed.