Damon Landor, a Rastafarian, was so wary of Louisiana prison officials that he reported to serve a five-month sentence carrying a copy of a legal opinion that found that inmates must be allowed to keep their dreadlocks, under a federal law protecting prisoners’ religious freedom.
Four months into his term for drug possession, Mr. Landor, whose faith requires him to let his hair grow long, was transferred to a new prison. When he pulled out a copy of the court’s 2017 decision, a guard threw it in the trash, according to court documents he filed in a later lawsuit.
Then, two guards handcuffed Mr. Landor to a chair, restrained him and forcibly shaved his dreadlocks.
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