Damon Landor, a former inmate and Rastafarian, gained the support of The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty in his fight for religious rights in prison at the Supreme Court.
Landor, who was incarcerated in 2020, brought a case after he said prison guards in Louisiana forcibly shaved his dreadlocks and violated his First Amendment rights.
Becket filed a friend-of-the-court brief to the Supreme Court on Tuesday in support of Landor and his case.
Landor, a devout Rastafarian, had not cut his hair in nearly 20 years. At first, officers respected his religious practice of having long dreadlocks, but he was later transferred to a new correctional facility just weeks before finishing his five-month sentence. Guards at the Raymond Laborde Correctional Center forcibly cut his hair.
Landor brought the case, which was dismissed by lower courts and he later appealed. The Supreme Court agreed in late June to hear Landor’s case in the upcoming term.
The Supreme Court justices will review the appeals court ruling that held Landor had no grounds to sue the prison for monetary damages under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.
“Handcuffing a man to a chair and shaving off a core symbol of his faith is a heinous example of how easily rights are trampled behind bars,” Daniel Chen, counsel at Becket, said in a statement. “Prison officials cannot carry out that kind of abuse and face zero consequences.”
Chen noted that when people enter prison, they surrender many rights but they do not surrender their conscience. He argued the government cannot force prisoners to silence their faith once they’re inside.
Becket is urging the justices to review its previous ruling under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The 2020 ruling from the Supreme Court allowed Muslim men to sue over being placed on the FBI’s no-fly list.
Becket is also urging the Supreme Court to give the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Person Act “real teeth” and allow prisoners to hold officials accountable when rights are violated.
The Trump administration is also backing Landor and previously filed a brief urging the justices to take up the case.
Oral arguments for the case will take place Nov. 10.