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America Supreme Court Have considered whether the former louisiana The prisoner may seek financial compensation from prison officials who cut off her veil, an act which she claims violates her Rastafari religious beliefs.
The justices heard arguments in the case of Damon Lander, who is attempting to sue for damages under a federal law designed to protect the religious rights of incarcerated people.
After two hours of intense debate, the court’s three liberal justices sided firmly with Lander.
However, it remains uncertain whether any of the six conservative justices, two of whom would be needed for a majority, would join them.
Neither party is defending actions taken against Lander in 2020, when guards forcibly removed dreadlocks he had grown for nearly two decades.
Nevertheless, Louisiana argues that the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act cannot be used to hold officials financially accountable for such violations. Lower courts have consistently ruled against Lander and others making similar claims.
Justice amy coney barrett Acknowledged the “serious” facts of the case but noted similar opposition to lower court rulings.
Allowing judges to be guided by their decision in 2020 Muslim Men will have to sue if they are included in this FBINo-fly list under a companion statute, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
Justice DepartmentWho argued against the plaintiff in the presidential no-fly list case donald trumpThe first administration, now agreed with Lander.
When Lander entered the prison system for a five-month stint in 2020, he carried a copy of an appeals court ruling in another inmate’s case that said cutting the dreadlocks of religious prisoners violates federal law.
At his first two stops, authorities respected his faith. But things changed when he arrived at the Raymond Laborde Correctional Center in Cottonport, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) to the northwest. Baton RougeFor the last three weeks of his tenure.
According to court records, a prison guard took Lander’s copy of the decision and threw it in the trash. The warden then ordered the guards to cut his hair. Records show that while two guards restrained him, a third shaved his head.
Lander sued after his release, but lower courts dismissed the case. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals expressed dismay at Lander’s treatment but said the law does not allow it to hold prison officials liable for damages.
Louisiana wrote that “the State has amended its prison grooming policy to ensure that nothing like petitioner’s alleged experience can occur.”
The Rastafari faith has its roots in the 1930s. JamaicaRising as a response of black people to white colonial oppression. Its beliefs are a combination of Old Testament teachings and a desire to return AfricaIts message was spread around the world by Jamaican music giants in the 1970s Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, two of the faith’s most famous exponents.
A decision in Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections, 23-1197, is expected by spring.