The Supreme Court’s conservative majority expressed doubts at oral arguments Monday about a Rastafarian man’s attempt to seek damages from prison guards who shaved his dreadlocks in violation of his religious rights.

Damon Landor was weeks away from completing his five-month sentence on a drug charge when he was transferred to a new facility. Guards handcuffed Landor to a chair and forcibly shaved his hair, court filings show.

Landor follows the Nazirite vow, which forbids him from cutting his hair. He handed guards an appeals court ruling that shaving Rastafarian inmates’ dreadlocks violates a federal religious liberty law, but guards threw it in the trash and shaved him anyway.

All sides involved condemn the man’s treatment, but at issue before the Supreme Court is whether he is entitled to seek damages from prison officials in their personal........

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