{"id":2340,"date":"2026-06-27T11:36:44","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T11:36:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2340"},"modified":"2026-06-27T11:36:44","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T11:36:44","slug":"the-supreme-court-may-have-set-a-trap-for-conservative-christians-that-could-backfire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=2340","title":{"rendered":"The Supreme Court may have set a trap for conservative Christians that could backfire"},"content":{"rendered":"

For more than two decades, the Supreme Court has issued a long series of wins for plaintiffs seeking to protect their religious practices. On June 23, 2026, though, the majority delivered an uncommon defeat in this contentious area.<\/p>

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, a 6-3 judgment, rejected the claim of Damon Landor, a Rastafarian whose hair was forcibly shaved in prison. Landor had worn long dreadlocks for almost 20 years as an expression of his beliefs \u2013 part of a biblical practice known as the \u201cNazarite vow.\u201d Like lower court judges, the Supreme Court did not dispute that officials violated Landor\u2019s rights. However, the high court\u2019s majority ruled that he could not sue individual officials at the prison. <\/p>

The case stands out for at least three other reasons. <\/p>

First, Landor v. Louisiana underscores the complexity and far-reaching nature of religious freedom laws in the United States and the increasingly diverse faith traditions to which they apply. Christians now represent 62% of the American population, down from 78% in 2007, while 29% have no religious affiliation and 7% belong to other faith traditions. <\/p>

Second, Landor\u2019s case gained support from many groups typically at odds over how to protect religious freedoms \u2013 groups disappointed with this week\u2019s decision.<\/p>

Finally, the case highlights the religious rights of the nearly 2 million people in U.S. prisons, jails and detention and correctional facilities \u2013 and the challenge of holding their public employees accountable when those rights are violated.<\/p>

Religious vow<\/h2>

Landor was incarcerated in Louisiana in 2020 for possessing methamphetamine, cocaine, amphetamine and marijuana. <\/p>

At first, officials respected his religious practice. Just three years earlier, a federal appeals court affirmed that Rastafarian inmates under a federal law passed in 2000: the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.<\/p>

Toward the end of his sentence, Landor was transferred to a different correctional facility in the state. There \u2013 with three weeks left for Landor to serve \u2013 the warden , directing guards to shackle Landor and forcibly shave his head.<\/p>

After finishing his sentence, Landor filed suit for money damages under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The act forbids the government and its officials from imposing \u201csubstantial burden(s)\u201d on incarcerated people\u2019s First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion. It also protects religious groups from discrimination through zoning restrictions.<\/p>

Journey through the courts<\/h2>

In 2022, a federal trial court in Louisiana condemned Landor\u2019s treatment but rejected his claim, concluding that money damages were not an appropriate remedy under the act.<\/p>

The following year, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals \u201cemphatically condemn(ed) the treatment that Landor endured.\u201d However, the panel unanimously affirmed the lower court\u2019s decision, based on its earlier ruling that plaintiffs cannot sue government officials in their individual capacities for monetary damages \u2013 only the institution.<\/p>

Landor\u2019s attorneys then sought an \u201cen banc\u201d hearing. In this uncommon procedure, parties seek further review by all of the judges in a federal circuit. The court , as that this was a question for the Supreme Court.<\/p>

The Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal after a variety of organizations, , submitted amicus curiae, or \u201cfriend of the court,\u201d briefs in favor of Landor. These included Americans United for Separation of Church and State, for example, which typically supports plaintiffs wishing to keep religion out of public life. They also included , which usually represents people seeking to increase faith\u2019s role in public life, and the Trump administration. <\/p>

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At issue was not whether Landor\u2019s rights had been violated but whether he could sue an individual official, namely the warden, for monetary damages. During oral arguments on Nov. 10, 2025, the . <\/p>

Legal dilemma<\/h2>

That skepticism was reflected in . It was essentially a procedural ruling about the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act rather than a judgment on the merits of Landor\u2019s religious freedom claim. <\/p>

Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson\u2019s dissent was joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.<\/p>

The majority\u2019s argument that Landor could not sue centered on the spending clause of the U.S. Constitution \u2013 the source of Congress\u2019 authority to create the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The spending clause allows the legislature to spend money to provide for the \u201cgeneral Welfare of the United States.\u201d If a state or institution uses federal funds, their officials agree to certain conditions; if they violate those conditions, Congress can remove funding.<\/p>

But the spending clause does not give Congress authority to hold individual employees accountable, Gorsuch argued in his 18-page opinion. Prison officials had not \u201c to answer private suits\u201d under the act, and so they could not be held directly liable for monetary damages. Otherwise, Congress would have \u201c.\u201d<\/p>

Jackson\u2019s 29-page dissent disagreed with the majority\u2019s interpretation of the spending clause. The ruling, she contended, \u201c\u2019\u201d under which \u201cCongress has been able to use its spending power to reach beyond direct recipients of federal funds.\u201d As such, she worried that the court\u2019s order imposed a \u201c.\u201d<\/p>

Jackson also lamented the decision\u2019s potential consequences for inmates. Although the goal of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act was to protect prisoners\u2019 faith practices, she worried that people \u201clike Landor in state prisons \u2013 no matter how blatant \u2013 will often be left remediless.\u201d<\/p>

Bigger picture<\/h2>

At a glance, the Landor case appears to be a procedural disagreement rather than one over religious freedom. <\/p>

However, I argue Landor v. Louisiana must be viewed as a setback for religious liberty, raising a serious question about whether minority faiths have as much protection under the First Amendment as larger religions. The decision is also something of a surprise to me, because the Supreme Court has recently upheld free exercise rights in multiple high-profile cases, almost all of which involve Christianity \u2013 such as a football coach\u2019s ability to pray on the field after public school games.<\/p>

Portions of this article originally appeared in a previous article published on Nov. 6, 2025.<\/em>\n

\"The<\/figure>\n<\/p>

Charles J. Russo, Joseph Panzer Chair in Education and Research Professor of Law, University of Dayton<\/em><\/p>

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.<\/p>

Read more Electing Trump puts a \u2018cosplaying yutz\u2019 over your government: conservative<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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