Latest news with #ElizabethMurrill
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Supreme Court takes up religious claim by Rastafarian whose dreadlocks were cut by prison officials
WASHINGTON — Taking up a new religious rights case, the Supreme Court on Monday agreed to weigh a claim for damages brought by a devout Rastafarian whose dreadlocks were cut by Louisiana prison officials against his wishes. At the time of the incident in 2020, Damon Landor had kept a religious vow not to cut his hair for almost 20 years. Landor had served all but three weeks of his five-month sentence imposed for a drug-related criminal conviction in Louisiana when he was transferred to the Raymond Laborde Correction Center. He was holding a copy of a court ruling that made it clear that practicing Rastafarians should be given a religious accommodation allowing them to keep their dreadlocks. But a prison officer dismissed his concerns and Landor was handcuffed to a chair while two officers shaved his head. Upon his release, Landor filed a lawsuit raising various claims, including the one at issue at the Supreme Court, which he brought under a federal law called the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. At issue is whether people who sue under that statute can win money damages. Louisiana Attorney General Elizabeth Murrill said in court papers that the state does not contest that Landor was mistreated and noted that the prison system has already changed its grooming policy to ensure that other Rastafarian prisoners do not face similar situations. But she contests whether Landor can get get money damages for his claim. A federal judge and the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals both ruled in favor of the state, saying that money damages are not available. Landor's lawyer point to a 2020 Supreme Court ruling that allowed such damages in claims arising under a similar law called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The laws have "identical language," they said in court papers. The court will hear oral arguments and issue a ruling in the case in its next term, which starts in October and ends in June 2026. This article was originally published on
Wall Street Journal
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
A Bad Business on the Bayou
Less than a year after fleeing California's extreme environmental laws, Chevron now finds itself in a Louisiana courthouse defending itself against a $3 billion claim that World War II-era oil production caused erosion of the state's coast. The mastermind of the swampland stickup is a politically connected trial lawyer who has leveraged his ties with the state's Gov. Jeff Landry and Attorney General Elizabeth Murrill—both Republicans—to lead a statewide fight to make oil and gas companies pay for exploration dating back to the 1940s. With friends like these, who needs Gavin Newsom? On March 13, a jury in Plaquemines Parish heard opening arguments in a case seeking damages for the alleged environmental harm Texaco (now owned by Chevron) caused when it began drilling in the Bayou Gentilly oil field—in 1941. The case, orchestrated by plaintiffs' attorney John Carmouche, will signal how juries will respond in the 40 other lawsuits that Mr. Carmouche's firm has brought to hold oil and gas companies liable for Louisiana's coastal land loss. A plaintiffs' verdict in Plaquemines Parish could lead to settlements in the billions in these other cases.
