Supreme Court to Hear Case of Rastafarian Inmate Seeking Justice After Guards Cut Off His Dreadlocks

The Supreme Court will hear a major case Monday involving Damon Landor, a devout Rastafarian whose knee-length dreadlocks were forcibly shaved by prison guards in Louisiana five years ago. The justices will decide whether prisoners like Landor can sue officials for violating their religious rights.

Landor, who had taken a Nazarite vow not to cut his hair, arrived at Raymond Laborde Correctional Center in 2020 with only weeks left in his sentence. Despite showing guards a 2017 court ruling protecting the right to wear dreadlocks for religious reasons, officials handcuffed him to a chair and shaved his head. Court documents say guards even threw away the ruling before cutting his hair.

The case centers on the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, known as RLUIPA, which Congress passed to protect the religious rights of prisoners. A lower court ruled that Landor could not sue the prison staff personally, even though it condemned their actions as “emphatically wrong.”

Louisiana officials argue that RLUIPA is a contract between the federal government and the state, not individual employees. But Landor’s lawyers counter that without the ability to sue, the law has no real power to hold violators accountable.

Even as the conservative-leaning Supreme Court has shown strong support for religious liberty, it has been hesitant to allow personal lawsuits against state officials. Still, this case could mark a turning point for how far those protections extend behind bars.

Landor, who declined an interview, plans to attend the hearing in person. His dreadlocks, once shorn, have since regrown to his shoulders.

Credit: CNN Newsource

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