I can't believe this is a real thing that happened, but I must give you some background before we go any further.
Damon Landor, a devout Rastafarian who hadn't cut his hair in 20 years because of his Nazirite vow, got the surprise of a lifetime in 2020 while serving a short stint in a Louisiana prison for a drug charge.
Prison officials at the Raymond Laborde Correctional Center decided his dreadlocks were just too ... dreadlock-y for their liking. So they handcuffed the man to a chair and shaved his head bald.
Well, Landor sued under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, a federal law designed to protect exactly this kind of thing in prisons that take federal bucks.
Well...
What's more, Landor had previously shown these officers a copy of a "binding court ruling that deemed cutting a Rastafarian's dreadlocks to be a violation of religious rights."
Doesn't matter, it's not binding anymore. The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, essentially said Landor can't sue the individual officers.
Some good news: Louisiana says they've since updated their grooming policies so this exact nightmare won't happen again.
So Bob Marley, you should be fine next time you go to prison for those drugs you love so much!
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