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In a Monday morning decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a formerly incarcerated individual, denying his right to sue the state of Louisiana for violating his Rastafarian beliefs by forcibly shaving his hair.

The case is notable in that, while this iteration of the high court has made numerous decisions defending right-wing Christians’ purported First Amendment religious freedoms, it is denying the same level of protection to non-Christians whose rights have been blatantly violated.

Damon Landor was nearing the end of a five-month prison sentence in 2020 when he was transferred to another facility. Upon entering, he showed officials a court ruling demonstrating that his dreadlocks, grown down to his knees over nearly a decade, were tied to his religious beliefs.

The intake guard examined the copy of the order, then threw it in the trash, making it impossible for Landor to show the warden that his hair should not be cut. Prison staff later handcuffed Landor to a chair and shaved his dreadlocks.

“My locks are a part of me and part of who I am. So when they cut off my hair, they cut off my crown,” Landor explained in a statement to USA Today.

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Landor sought to sue the officials responsible for violating his religious rights, citing the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA). Lower courts denied him the ability to sue, and the Supreme........

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