The Supreme Court has decided to hear the case of a former Louisiana prison inmate who had his dreadlocks cut off by prison officials in violation of his religious beliefs.
According to the Associated Press, the justices will review an appellate decision that determined that former convict Damon Landor could not sue prison officials for monetary damages under a federal law that intends to preserve prisoners’ religious liberties.
Landor, a Rastafari follower, even brought a copy of an appeals court ruling in another prisoner’s case that said it was against the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act to chop religious prisoners’ dreadlocks.
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The Rastafari faith emerged in 1930s Jamaica as a Black response to white colonial oppression. Its beliefs combine the teachings of the Old Testament with a longing to return to Africa. Its message was transmitted around the world in the 1970s by Jamaican music superstars Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, two of the faith’s most recognized exponents.
When Landor was sentenced to five months in Louisiana’s jail system in 2020, he hadn’t had his hair cut in almost twenty years. Officials respected his convictions at his first two stops. However, for the last three weeks of his sentence, he was transferred to the Raymond Laborde Correctional Center in Cottonport, which is located roughly 80 miles (130 kilometers) northwest of Baton Rouge.
According to court records, a prison guard threw away the copy of the ruling that Landor was carrying. The warden then gave the order for his dreadlocks to be chopped by guards. Records state that one of the three guards shaved his head to the scalp as the other two held him.
When Landon was released, he sued but the lower courts dismissed the case. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals criticized Landor’s treatment but indicated that he is not allowed to hold prison officials liable for damages, per the law.
Arguments will be heard by the Supreme Court in the fall. According to CBS, the justices will hear arguments during their upcoming term, which starts in October, and a ruling is anticipated by the summer of 2026.
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The Associated Press reports that Landor’s attorneys contend that the court ought to follow its 2021 ruling permitting Muslim males to file a lawsuit against the FBI for being placed on its no-fly list under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a sister statute.
In a brief, the Republican administration of President Donald Trump defended Landor’s legal rights and asked the court to take up the matter.
Louisiana asked the judges to reject the appeal while acknowledging Landor’s mistreatment. State attorneys stated in their letter that “the state has amended its prison grooming policy to ensure that nothing like petitioner’s alleged experience can occur.”
