Supreme Court rules former inmate cannot sue prison guards who cut his dreadlocks
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a former Louisiana inmate cannot sue prison officials who forcibly shaved his dreadlocks in violation of his Rastafarian faith.
The high court, in a 6-3 decision, said inmate Damon Landor was not entitled to monetary damages under the federal religious freedom law because it does not apply to individual officials.
The justices said state employees did not consent to be sued in their personal capacities when Congress passed the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) in 2000.
The decision marks a departure from a series of Supreme Court decisions in which justices have generally sided with religious freedom claims.
In 2020, while Landor was in jail on a drug-related charge, officers handcuffed him to a chair and shaved his head after he claimed it would violate his religious rights as a Rastafarian.
In a statement to USA Today, Landor said his dreadlocks are “a part of me and who I am.”
“So when they cut my hair, they also cut off my crown,” he said.
The transformation of uncut, uncombed hair into dreadlocks is a symbol of devotion and spiritual development for Rastafarians.
In Tuesday’s opinion, Conservative justices ruled against Landor, while three Liberal justices dissented.
Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote that RLUPIA, which applies to local prisons that receive federal funding, does not allow legal challenges against individual officials.
“Under the Spending Clause, Congress lacks the regulatory authority to impose direct liability on them and must instead rely on consent,” Gorsuch wrote.
Liberal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson said in his dissent that the purpose of RLUIPA is “to ensure that state and local prisons respect inmates’ rights to religious practice.”
