Supreme Court Seems Skeptical of Rastafarian’s Attempt to Sue Officers Who Shaved His Dreadlocks

Multiple justices also noted that appeals courts had interpreted the law differently from how the plaintiff did.

The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on Nov. 10, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

The Supreme Court seemed divided but largely skeptical on Nov. 10 of a Rastafarian’s attempt to sue prison officials in their individual capacity for shaving his dreadlocks.

Damon Landor has refused to cut his hair as part of what court papers describe as a “Nazarite vow.” But in 2020, a group of prison guards shaved his head despite a federal appeals court ruling that doing so would violate his rights under a law known as the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.