The Supreme Court ruled that an ex-prisoner cannot sue those who beat the prison guards

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a former Louisiana inmate cannot sue prison officials who forcibly shaved his locks in violation of Rastafarian beliefs.

In a 6-3 ruling, the high court said inmate Damon Landor was not entitled to monetary damages under the federal Religious Freedom Act because it did not apply to individual officials.

The justices said that when Congress passed the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) in 2000, government employees refused to sue in their personal capacity.

The decision follows a series of recent Supreme Court decisions in which justices have generally sided with religious-liberty claims.

In the year In 2020, while Landor was serving time on drug-related charges, officers handcuffed him to a chair and shaved him after arguing that it violated his religious rights as a Rastafarian.

Landor said in a statement to USA Today that his dreadlocks are “part of who I am and who I am.”

“So when they cut my hair, they cut my crown,” he said.

Growing uncut untangled hair into dreadlocks is a symbol of devotion and spiritual growth for Rastafarians.

In Tuesday’s opinion, a conservative justice ruled against Landor, while three liberal justices dissented.

Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote that RLUPIA, which applies to local jails that receive federal funding, does not allow legal challenges against individual officials.

“Under the Spending Clause, Congress lacks regulatory authority to directly impose liability and must instead rely on consent,” Gorsuch wrote.

In her dissent, liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said the goal of RLUIPA is to “ensure that state and local prisons respect inmates’ right to exercise their religious activities.”