US Supreme Court rules Rastafarian man cannot sue prison guards who cut his dreadlocks

The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that a Rastafarian man cannot sue individual prison guards for monetary damages after they forcibly cut his dreadlocks in 2020. In a 6-3 decision, the Court concluded that the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), a federal law intended to protect prisoners' religious rights, does not allow for such lawsuits against individual state officials. This ruling upholds previous lower court decisions that had dismissed the case, despite acknowledging the egregious nature of the man's treatment.

Justice Neil Gorsuch delivered the majority opinion, which centered on the interpretation of RLUIPA's scope regarding personal liability. The Court's three liberal justices dissented, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson arguing that the decision effectively weakens federal religious protections for incarcerated individuals, potentially leaving those whose religious freedoms are violated without a remedy. The plaintiff, Damon Landor, had maintained his dreadlocks for nearly two decades as part of his devout Rastafarian faith and had even presented prison staff with a court ruling affirming his right to do so, which was reportedly disregarded.