The US Supreme Court has ruled that a former Louisiana inmate cannot sue prison officials who cut off his dreadlocks, violating his Rastafari religious beliefs. The justices condemned the treatment of Damon Landor but determined that a federal law protecting prisoners' religious rights does not permit lawsuits for monetary damages.
Court's Decision and Legal Rationale
The high court affirmed lower court rulings that the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) cannot be used to hold officials financially responsible for rights violations. The justices declined to apply the reasoning from their 2020 decision allowing Muslim men to sue over inclusion on the FBI's no-fly list under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
The Justice Department, which had argued against plaintiffs in the no-fly list case, sided with Landor. No one defended the actions taken against him during his five-month prison term in 2020.
Details of the Incident
When Landor entered the prison system, he carried a copy of an appeals court ruling in another prisoner's case that held cutting religious prisoners' dreadlocks violated federal law. At his first two stops, officials respected his beliefs. However, upon arrival at the Raymond Laborde Correctional Center in Cottonport for the final three weeks of his term, a prison guard threw the ruling in the trash, and the warden ordered guards to cut his dreadlocks. While two guards restrained him, a third shaved his head to the scalp.
Landor sued after his release, but lower courts dismissed the case. The 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals lamented his treatment but said the law does not allow him to hold prison officials liable for damages.
Impact and Reactions
“When I was strapped down and shaved, it felt like I was raped,” Landor said in a statement to ABC. “And the guards, they just didn’t care. They will treat you any kind of way. They knew better than to cut my hair, but they did it anyway. That’s what they do. They were just using their authority.”
Louisiana wrote that “the state has amended its prison grooming policy to ensure that nothing like petitioner’s alleged experience can occur.” The Supreme Court's decision effectively bars Landor from seeking monetary compensation for the violation of his religious rights.
