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Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections and Public Safety

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Supreme Court of the United States
Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections and Public Safety
Docket number: 23-1197
Term: 2025
Court: United States Supreme Court
Important dates
Argued: November 10, 2025
Court membership
Chief Justice John Roberts • Clarence Thomas • Samuel Alito • Sonia Sotomayor • Elena Kagan • Neil Gorsuch • Brett Kavanaugh • Amy Coney Barrett • Ketanji Brown Jackson

Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections and Public Safety is a case argued before the Supreme Court of the United States on November 10, 2025, during the court's October 2025-2026 term.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • The issue: The case concerns the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA). Click here to learn more about the case's background.
  • The questions presented: "The question presented is whether an individual may sue a government official in his individual capacity for damages for violations of RLUIPA."[1]
  • The outcome: The appeal is pending adjudication before the U.S. Supreme Court.


    • The case came on a writ of certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. To review the lower court's opinion, click here.

    Background

    Case summary

    The following are the parties to this case:[2]

    • Petitioner: Damon Landor
      • Legal counsel: Zachary D. Tripp
    • Respondent: Louisiana Department of Corrections and Public Safety, et al.
      • Legal counsel: Jorge Benjamin Aguinaga

    The following summary of the case was published by Oyez, a free law project from Cornell’s Legal Information Institute, Justia, and the Chicago-Kent College of Law:[3]

    “ Damon Landor, a devout Rastafarian, vowed as part of his faith never to cut his hair—a religious commitment known as the Nazarite Vow. Incarcerated in 2020, Landor was first held at the St. Tammany Parish Detention Center and later at LaSalle Correctional Center, both of which allowed him to maintain his hairstyle in accordance with his religious beliefs. After approximately five months and with three weeks left in his sentence, Landor was transferred to Raymond Laborde Correctional Center. Upon arrival, Landor proactively explained his religious practices and presented documentation of previous accommodations, including a copy of a federal court decision supporting similar claims. An intake guard disregarded his documentation, summoned the warden, and upon Landor’s inability to produce immediate additional proof of his beliefs, guards forcibly handcuffed Landor and shaved his head.


    Following his release, Landor sued the Louisiana Department of Corrections and Public Safety, its Secretary James LeBlanc, the correctional center, and Warden Marcus Myers, asserting claims under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) and 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violations of his federal constitutional rights, as well as state law claims.

    The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana dismissed Landor’s individual-capacity RLUIPA claims for money damages, holding such relief unavailable under controlling Fifth Circuit precedent. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed, relying on its prior decision in Sossamon v. Lone Star State of Texas, and rejecting Landor’s arguments that subsequent Supreme Court authority or other legal developments altered that result. [4]

    		”

    To learn more about this case, see the following:

    Timeline

    The following timeline details key events in this case:

    Questions presented

    The petitioner presented the following questions to the court:[1]

    Questions presented:
    “ The question presented is whether an individual may sue a government official in his individual capacity for damages for violations of RLUIPA.[4] ”

    Oral argument

    Audio

    Audio of oral argument:[5]




    Transcript

    Transcript of oral argument:[6]

    Outcome

    The case is pending adjudication before the U.S. Supreme Court.

    October term 2025-2026

    See also: Supreme Court cases, October term 2025-2026

    The Supreme Court began hearing cases for the term on October 6, 2025. The court's yearly term begins on the first Monday in October and lasts until the first Monday in October the following year. The court generally releases the majority of its decisions by mid-June.[7]


    See also

    External links

    Footnotes

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Supreme Court of the United States, "23-1197 LANDOR V. LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS AND PUBLIC SAFETY QP", June 23, 2025
    2. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "No. 23-1197 Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections and Public Safety" accessed July 2, 2025
    3. ↑ Oyez, "Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections," accessed November 13, 2025
    4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
    5. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "Oral Argument - Audio," argued November 10, 2025
    6. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "Oral Argument - Transcript," argued November 10, 2025
    7. ↑ SupremeCourt.gov, "The Supreme Court at Work: The Term and Caseload," accessed January 24, 2022
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