US Supreme Court says Rastafarian man shaved by prison guards can’t sue
Key takeaways
- The high court has upheld a ruling that prisoners cannot sue prison staff for money damages under religious liberties law.
- Writing for the majority, Justice Neil Gorsuch did not argue that Landor’s religious rights had not been violated.
- Instead, he wrote that it was improper to sue the prison officials, as they had not consented to be liable under the RLUIPA law.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
The high court has upheld a ruling that prisoners cannot sue prison staff for money damages under religious liberties law.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo The Supreme Court's six-person conservative majority ruled against a Rastafari plaintiff who sought to sue prison guards on religious freedom grounds [Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images/AFP]By Al Jazeera Staff, Reuters and The Associated Press Published On 23 Jun 202623 Jun 2026The United States Supreme Court has determined that a Rastafarian man cannot sue prison officials who cut his dreadlocks for violating his religious beliefs.
On Tuesday, the court’s conservative majority ruled that Damon Landor, a formerly incarcerated man, cannot file a lawsuit against prison staff for violations of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), a law meant to uphold religious liberties for those behind bars.