Latest news with #dreadlocks
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- 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
CNN
23-06-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Supreme Court agrees to hear case of Rastafarian man seeking to sue prison officials for cutting his dreadlocks
The Supreme Court agreed Monday to take up the case of a Rastafarian man seeking to sue prison officials in Louisiana who cut off his dreadlocks while he was incarcerated. The case is the latest that involves religious rights to catch the high court's attention, and it could have significant implications by allowing prisoners to sue government officials for damages when their religious rights are burdened under a federal law enacted 25 years ago. Damon Landor, a devout Rastafarian who began serving a five-month prison sentence in 2020 for drug possession, had taken a religious vow years earlier to not cut his locks. But his situation took a turn for the worst after arriving at a new prison weeks before his release. He handed officials a copy of an appeals court ruling from 2017 that allowed prisoners to have dreadlocks. The guards tossed it in the trash. They then handcuffed him to a chair and forcibly shaved his head. Following Landor's release, he sued Louisiana prison officials and guards for damages under a decades-old law that protects the religious interests of inmates. But lower courts dismissed his case, ruling that the law doesn't allow individuals to pursue damages against prison officials for alleged violations of it even though, in one court's view, he had the victim of a 'grave legal wrong.' The conservative New Orleans-based 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals said in a unanimous decision last year that it 'emphatically' condemned 'the treatment that Landor endured,' but an earlier appeals court precedent settled the case against him. The full 5th Circuit divided on whether to hear the case. President Bill Clinton signed the bipartisan law in 2000 that protects the religion interests of state prisoners but it's not clear whether that law allows people who were harmed to sue for money damages. The Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that a similar law with nearly identical language allows people whose religious rights have been burdened to seek damages against government officials acting in their individual capacity. 'Without a damages remedy,' lawyers for Landor told the justices in court papers, inmates 'will often be left without meaningful protection for their religious exercise.' In other words, once Landor's head was shaved, the only way for him to have some legal remedy is through money damages. 'The no-damages rule ensured that respondent officials would not be held accountable for violating the religious rights of a prisoner set for release in just three weeks and prevented him from obtaining any relief for the abuse he suffered,' his lawyers said. Attorneys for the Louisiana state officials urged the court to not take up the case, arguing among other things that Landor could bring his claims under state law. They also told the justices that permitting the lawsuit to move forward could hamper the state's ability to hire staff in its prisons. Siding with Landor, they told the court, 'would almost certainly deepen the problem by driving down staffing levels and dissuading job applicants.' 'That, in turn, inevitably would lead to worse prison conditions and perhaps lessened protections for religious liberty, as understaffed prisons attempt to survive the growing prison populations,' they added. 'No one wins in that situation.' The Trump administration, meanwhile, had asked the justices to take up the matter. Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the court in May that the federal government has an interest 'in ensuring that prisons or other institutions receiving federal funds do not substantially burden religious exercise, and damages liability is closely connected to that interest.'
CNN
23-06-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Supreme Court agrees to hear case of Rastafarian man seeking to sue prison officials for cutting his dreadlocks
The Supreme Court agreed Monday to take up the case of a Rastafarian man seeking to sue prison officials in Louisiana who cut off his dreadlocks while he was incarcerated. The case is the latest that involves religious rights to catch the high court's attention, and it could have significant implications by allowing prisoners to sue government officials for damages when their religious rights are burdened under a federal law enacted 25 years ago. Damon Landor, a devout Rastafarian who began serving a five-month prison sentence in 2020 for drug possession, had taken a religious vow years earlier to not cut his locks. But his situation took a turn for the worst after arriving at a new prison weeks before his release. He handed officials a copy of an appeals court ruling from 2017 that allowed prisoners to have dreadlocks. The guards tossed it in the trash. They then handcuffed him to a chair and forcibly shaved his head. Following Landor's release, he sued Louisiana prison officials and guards for damages under a decades-old law that protects the religious interests of inmates. But lower courts dismissed his case, ruling that the law doesn't allow individuals to pursue damages against prison officials for alleged violations of it even though, in one court's view, he had the victim of a 'grave legal wrong.' The conservative New Orleans-based 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals said in a unanimous decision last year that it 'emphatically' condemned 'the treatment that Landor endured,' but an earlier appeals court precedent settled the case against him. The full 5th Circuit divided on whether to hear the case. President Bill Clinton signed the bipartisan law in 2000 that protects the religion interests of state prisoners but it's not clear whether that law allows people who were harmed to sue for money damages. The Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that a similar law with nearly identical language allows people whose religious rights have been burdened to seek damages against government officials acting in their individual capacity. 'Without a damages remedy,' lawyers for Landor told the justices in court papers, inmates 'will often be left without meaningful protection for their religious exercise.' In other words, once Landor's head was shaved, the only way for him to have some legal remedy is through money damages. 'The no-damages rule ensured that respondent officials would not be held accountable for violating the religious rights of a prisoner set for release in just three weeks and prevented him from obtaining any relief for the abuse he suffered,' his lawyers said. Attorneys for the Louisiana state officials urged the court to not take up the case, arguing among other things that Landor could bring his claims under state law. They also told the justices that permitting the lawsuit to move forward could hamper the state's ability to hire staff in its prisons. Siding with Landor, they told the court, 'would almost certainly deepen the problem by driving down staffing levels and dissuading job applicants.' 'That, in turn, inevitably would lead to worse prison conditions and perhaps lessened protections for religious liberty, as understaffed prisons attempt to survive the growing prison populations,' they added. 'No one wins in that situation.' The Trump administration, meanwhile, had asked the justices to take up the matter. Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the court in May that the federal government has an interest 'in ensuring that prisons or other institutions receiving federal funds do not substantially burden religious exercise, and damages liability is closely connected to that interest.'
CNN
23-06-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Supreme Court agrees to hear case of Rastafarian man seeking to sue prison officials for cutting his dreadlocks
The Supreme Court agreed Monday to take up the case of a Rastafarian man seeking to sue prison officials in Louisiana who cut off his dreadlocks while he was incarcerated. The case is the latest that involves religious rights to catch the high court's attention, and it could have significant implications by allowing prisoners to sue government officials for damages when their religious rights are burdened under a federal law enacted 25 years ago. Damon Landor, a devout Rastafarian who began serving a five-month prison sentence in 2020 for drug possession, had taken a religious vow years earlier to not cut his locks. But his situation took a turn for the worst after arriving at a new prison weeks before his release. He handed officials a copy of an appeals court ruling from 2017 that allowed prisoners to have dreadlocks. The guards tossed it in the trash. They then handcuffed him to a chair and forcibly shaved his head. Following Landor's release, he sued Louisiana prison officials and guards for damages under a decades-old law that protects the religious interests of inmates. But lower courts dismissed his case, ruling that the law doesn't allow individuals to pursue damages against prison officials for alleged violations of it even though, in one court's view, he had the victim of a 'grave legal wrong.' The conservative New Orleans-based 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals said in a unanimous decision last year that it 'emphatically' condemned 'the treatment that Landor endured,' but an earlier appeals court precedent settled the case against him. The full 5th Circuit divided on whether to hear the case. President Bill Clinton signed the bipartisan law in 2000 that protects the religion interests of state prisoners but it's not clear whether that law allows people who were harmed to sue for money damages. The Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that a similar law with nearly identical language allows people whose religious rights have been burdened to seek damages against government officials acting in their individual capacity. 'Without a damages remedy,' lawyers for Landor told the justices in court papers, inmates 'will often be left without meaningful protection for their religious exercise.' In other words, once Landor's head was shaved, the only way for him to have some legal remedy is through money damages. 'The no-damages rule ensured that respondent officials would not be held accountable for violating the religious rights of a prisoner set for release in just three weeks and prevented him from obtaining any relief for the abuse he suffered,' his lawyers said. Attorneys for the Louisiana state officials urged the court to not take up the case, arguing among other things that Landor could bring his claims under state law. They also told the justices that permitting the lawsuit to move forward could hamper the state's ability to hire staff in its prisons. Siding with Landor, they told the court, 'would almost certainly deepen the problem by driving down staffing levels and dissuading job applicants.' 'That, in turn, inevitably would lead to worse prison conditions and perhaps lessened protections for religious liberty, as understaffed prisons attempt to survive the growing prison populations,' they added. 'No one wins in that situation.' The Trump administration, meanwhile, had asked the justices to take up the matter. Solicitor General D. John Sauer told the court in May that the federal government has an interest 'in ensuring that prisons or other institutions receiving federal funds do not substantially burden religious exercise, and damages liability is closely connected to that interest.'
BBC News
08-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Six years of hair growth chopped off for Keep Me Breathing
A Brighton man is having his dreadlocks cut off and will adopt a new hairstyle chosen by a public vote in aid of a locally based Ormondroyd has been growing his hair for six years and for the last five it has been styled in exchange for donations to charity Keep Me Breathing, the public has been voting on whether Mr Ormondroyd's barber will restyle him with a fade, a mullet, or a charity, based in the East Sussex city, aims to produce a "breathing pacemaker" to support people with congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS). The rare disorder affects how the nervous system manages breathing, according to the NHS, and can result in people stopping breathing, most often during Ormondroyd said his girlfriend ran the Brighton Marathon to raise funds for Keep Me Breathing and awareness of CCHS, which "inspired me to do something myself".He added that he "wasn't really expecting" the charity's public vote suggestion after he volunteered to face the scissors, but was up for the Mr Ormondroyd says he is hoping to end up with a fade, he admitted "most of my friends" have been voting in other will learn the haircut that won the vote ahead of his trim at a Brighton barber shop at 11:30 BST on Sunday.
