The Supreme Court heard a religious freedom argument Monday out of Louisiana concerning whether individual government officials may be forced to pay legal damages for violations of a primary First Amendment protection.

In Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections, the court is considering whether a prisoner can sue a prison official in his personal capacity for damages under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000, which forbids government from imposing a “substantial burden” on incarcerated people’s religious free exercise rights.

The plaintiff, Damon Landor, had grown long dreadlocks as part of his practice in the Rastafarian religion. Officials honored his faith when he was incarcerated in 2020 on a drug offense, but after he got transferred with three weeks left in his sentence in 2022, a prison guard required him to have his head shaved. 

Landor petitioned for the right to sue the guard for monetary damages under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The trial court and the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals both determined he wasn’t entitled to financial........

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