Overview
- During nearly two hours of argument, several conservative justices questioned allowing individual-capacity damages under RLUIPA, raising notice and Spending Clause concerns.
- The Court’s liberal justices appeared more sympathetic to Damon Landor, whose knee-length dreadlocks were cut after guards discarded a binding 2017 ruling protecting Rastafarian hair.
- The Justice Department in the Trump administration backed Landor’s reading of RLUIPA, invoking parallels to the Court’s 2020 decision in Tanzin v. Tanvir under RFRA.
- Lower courts, including a unanimous 5th Circuit panel, condemned Landor’s treatment but held that RLUIPA does not authorize money damages against state officials.
- Louisiana says it revised its prison grooming policy and argues any damages remedy must come from Congress, with a Supreme Court decision expected by spring or next summer.