Prisoner Religious Freedom Rights Need Safeguarding

Amid the hullabaloo over hot-button Supreme Court cases such as 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis and talk of ritual animal sacrifice, one religious-liberty issue continues to get overlooked: the conscience rights of the incarcerated. While prison reform has garnered a lot of attention in recent years from both the Left and the Right, the discussion has skipped over the ability of prisoners to exercise the most basic of fundamental rights.

Trying to change that, two lawyers have taken on the case of pro bono client Damon Landor, who served time in Louisiana for drug possession before being released in early 2021. While he was an inmate, Landor, a devout Rastafarian, had his head forcibly shaved. Landor adheres to the biblical Nazarite Vow, which forbids, among other things, cutting one’s hair. Before his rights were violated, he hadn’t cut his hair in over 20 years.

About the Author

Bobby Miller

Bobby Miller is an ISI Fellow at National Review and a graduate student at Georgetown University.

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Amid the hullabaloo over hot-button Supreme Court cases such as 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis and talk of ritual animal sacrifice, one religious-liberty issue continues to get overlooked: the conscience rights of the incarcerated. While prison reform has garnered a lot of attention in recent years from both the Left and the Right, the discussion has skipped over the ability of prisoners to exercise the most basic of fundamental rights.

Trying to change that, two lawyers have taken on the case of pro bono client Damon Landor, who served time in Louisiana for drug possession before being released in early 2021. While he was an inmate, Landor, a devout Rastafarian, had his head forcibly shaved. Landor adheres to the biblical Nazarite Vow, which forbids, among other things, cutting one’s hair. Before his rights were violated, he hadn’t cut his hair in over 20 years.