{"id":2567,"date":"2026-06-23T17:08:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T17:08:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2567"},"modified":"2026-06-23T17:08:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T17:08:57","slug":"supreme-court-rules-along-ideological-lines-in-case-involving-religious-rights-in-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2567","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court rules along ideological lines in case involving religious rights in prison"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Supreme Court issued a Tuesday saying a devout Rastafarian whose dreadlocks were cut off in prison couldn\u2019t sue the prison officials involved. <\/p>\n

Read more Opinion: The civic virtue of everyday citizens<\/a><\/p>\n

Justice Neil Gorsuch authored the opinion for the majority, upholding the ruling by the 5th Circuit that while Damon Landor could sue the prison system directly, he couldn\u2019t sue the individual prison officials for damages even though they violated his religious beliefs. <\/p>\n

Gorsuch wrote, \u201cUnder the Spending Clause, Congress lacks regulatory authority to impose liability on them directly and must depend instead on consent. And because they never agreed to answer suits like this one, Mr. Landor\u2019s case cannot proceed against them any more than a breach of contract action might proceed against a defendant who never formed a contract.\u201d <\/p>\n

Case background <\/h3>\n

Landor was serving a five-month prison sentence and with just weeks left to go in his term, his dreadlocks were forcibly cut by prison officials. <\/p>\n

As a devout Rastafarian, Landor had grown out his dreadlocks for nearly 20 years in accordance with his faith. At first, officers respected his religious practice of having long dreadlocks, but he was transferred to a new correctional facility just weeks before finishing his five-month sentence. Guards at the Raymond Laborde Correctional Center cut his hair. <\/p>\n

Landor argued that his First Amendment rights were violated, but his attorney, arguing before the Supreme Court last fall, faced some skepticism from the justices. <\/p>\n

The case follows two federal laws, both designed to protect religious liberties: the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. <\/p>\n

Landor\u2019s attorney, Zachary Tripp, argued that lower courts were wrong in dismissing the case and saying Landor had no grounds to sue prison officials. He noted that nearly everyone in the case, including the state of Louisiana, acknowledged that Landor was treated unfairly. <\/p>\n

Tripp faced questions surrounding RLUIPA\u2019s spending clause, which allows Congress to put conditions on federal funds going to states. Congress mandates that states must follow the law and not violate an inmate\u2019s religious rights as a condition for accepting federal funding. <\/p>\n

Lower courts said the state officials, including the individual prison guards, aren\u2019t the direct recipients of the federal money and so can\u2019t be sued for monetary damages. <\/p>\n

Chief Justice John Roberts focused on this point during oral arguments, saying it\u2019s a contract between the federal and state governments, not the federal government and state employees. <\/p>\n

Tripp argued that the prison guards are not members of the general public but rather are state officials who \u201cvoluntarily accepted this job,\u201d with contracts that state RLUIPA\u2019s condition. <\/p>\n

Justice Brett Kavanaugh pushed back on Tripp\u2019s argument about whether prison guards had clear notice they could be held liable for monetary damages, to which Tripp argued when individuals accept their positions, they are consenting to agree with the contract between the state and federal governments. <\/p>\n

Read more \u2018The show must go on,\u2019 81-year-old rocker Rod Stewart says after pausing Utah show for oxygen<\/a><\/p>\n

Without damages, an inmates\u2019 rights being violated are \u201cmeaningless,\u201d Tripp said. <\/p>\n

Landor\u2019s case was supported by the Trump administration and Libby Baird, the assistant to the U.S. solicitor general, noted how many religious and nonreligious organizations filed friend-of-the-court briefs on behalf of Landor. <\/p>\n

Conversely, Benjamin Agui\u00f1aga, the solicitor general of Louisiana, argued that RLUIPA does not \u201cclearly and unambiguously\u201d create an option for someone to be sued for damages in their individual capacity. He argued that Congress would need to pass new legislation to amend RLUIPA in order to make that clear. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe answer is across the street, not here,\u201d he said, pointing to Capitol Hill nearby. <\/p>\n

Agui\u00f1aga faced some tougher questions from the more liberal justices, particularly over the court\u2019s previous cases like the 2020 ruling in Tanzin v. Tanvir. Tanzin was brought to the high court by Muslim men placed on the FBI\u2019s No Fly List. Under the other federal law in Landor\u2019s case, RFRA, the men were able to receive monetary damages. <\/p>\n

Landor argues RFRA and the Tanzin decision should pave the way for him to receive individual capacity damages but Agui\u00f1aga said there were many cases from 2000 to 2020 where no state officials were on notice about being held liable as individuals. <\/p>\n

The 6-3 ruling<\/h3>\n

Gorsuch\u2019s opinion was read from the bench on Tuesday, and was joined by five other justices. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was joined in her dissenting opinion by Justices Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor. <\/p>\n

Gorsuch argued in his ruling that Congress can\u2019t impose liability directly on prison officials because they did not give their consent to be sued in cases like Landor\u2019s through their contract signed at the time of hiring. He argued that Landor\u2019s point that prison officials can be sued as indirect recipients of federal funds fails because they never explicitly agreed to the possibility of being sued for monetary damages some point down the line in their career. <\/p>\n

Gorsuch likened the argument to college coaches and transgender sport issues, or doctors administering vaccines. <\/p>\n

\u201cNone of that fits with our system of limited and enumerated federal powers where all others are reserved to the States and the people,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Jackson, in her dissent, argued that under RLUIPA, Congress ordered state and local prisons that accept federal funding to accommodate prisoners\u2019 religious exercise. She sharply disagreed with Gorsuch and the majority, saying they are severing the rights of religious inmates and is a \u201csleight of hand.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIt comes by the way of the majority\u2019s full-throated endorsement of a contract analogy even though what secures the rights at issue is not a contract but a law,\u201d she wrote. \u201cToday\u2019s decision magically transforms a federal statute into an invitation to be accepted or declined, deemed binding only if each particular defendant has explicitly agreed to be penalized.\u201d <\/p>\n

Read more Series recap: Tacoma and Salt Lake settle for split to close PCL first half<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
Related<\/div>\n
Supreme Court hears arguments on religious liberty in prison<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 6-3 decision that Damon Landor can’t sue the prison guards who shaved his dreadlocks was along ideological lines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2566,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nSupreme Court rules along ideological lines in case involving religious rights in prison - American Movers Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2567\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Supreme Court rules along ideological lines in case involving religious rights in prison - American Movers Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The 6-3 decision that Damon Landor can't sue the prison guards who shaved his dreadlocks was along ideological lines.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2567\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Movers Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-23T17:08:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2567#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2567\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b68c8483906c0d2987f271455f0177af\"},\"headline\":\"Supreme Court rules along ideological lines in case involving religious rights in prison\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-23T17:08:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2567\"},\"wordCount\":1024,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2567#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/a6c49b754e35d047fde69fbc92f6f53f.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2567#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2567\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2567\",\"name\":\"Supreme Court rules along ideological lines in case involving religious rights in prison - American Movers Hub\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2567#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2567#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/a6c49b754e35d047fde69fbc92f6f53f.avif\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-23T17:08:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b68c8483906c0d2987f271455f0177af\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2567#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2567\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2567#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/a6c49b754e35d047fde69fbc92f6f53f.avif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/a6c49b754e35d047fde69fbc92f6f53f.avif\",\"width\":630,\"height\":331},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?p=2567#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Supreme Court rules along ideological lines in case involving religious rights in prison\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"American Movers Hub\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b68c8483906c0d2987f271455f0177af\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/americanmovershub.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Supreme Court rules along ideological lines in case involving religious rights in prison - American Movers Hub","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2567","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Supreme Court rules along ideological lines in case involving religious rights in prison - American Movers Hub","og_description":"The 6-3 decision that Damon Landor can't sue the prison guards who shaved his dreadlocks was along ideological lines.","og_url":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2567","og_site_name":"American Movers Hub","article_published_time":"2026-06-23T17:08:57+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2567#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2567"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b68c8483906c0d2987f271455f0177af"},"headline":"Supreme Court rules along ideological lines in case involving religious rights in prison","datePublished":"2026-06-23T17:08:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2567"},"wordCount":1024,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2567#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a6c49b754e35d047fde69fbc92f6f53f.avif","articleSection":["Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2567#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2567","url":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2567","name":"Supreme Court rules along ideological lines in case involving religious rights in prison - American Movers Hub","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2567#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2567#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a6c49b754e35d047fde69fbc92f6f53f.avif","datePublished":"2026-06-23T17:08:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b68c8483906c0d2987f271455f0177af"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2567#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2567"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2567#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a6c49b754e35d047fde69fbc92f6f53f.avif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a6c49b754e35d047fde69fbc92f6f53f.avif","width":630,"height":331},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?p=2567#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Supreme Court rules along ideological lines in case involving religious rights in prison"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/","name":"American Movers Hub","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b68c8483906c0d2987f271455f0177af","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/americanmovershub.com"],"url":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/americanmovershub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}