Supreme Court Rules Against Rastafarian's Dreadlock Case

On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 against Damon Landor, a devout Rastafarian whose knee-length dreadlocks were forcibly cut while he was incarcerated.

Landor sought permission to sue individual officials of the Louisiana Department of Corrections for monetary damages, claiming a violation of his religious rights. The court acknowledged that Landor's treatment by prison guards was antithetical to his religious freedom but stated that federal law does not allow for monetary damages against state officials in their individual capacities.

This ruling follows a 2017 decision where the court permitted Rastafarians to keep their dreadlocks in line with their religious beliefs. Landor had grown his hair for nearly two decades while serving a sentence for drug possession, which began in 2020.

The court records indicate that prison guards cut his hair while he was handcuffed to a chair, an act condemned by the appeals court, yet Landor was deemed ineligible to sue the individual prison officials for damages.