Agudath Israel of America expresses disappointment with the Supreme Court’s decision today in Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections and Public Safety. The case involves the scope of remedies available under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA), a statute Agudath Israel helped craft. The statute created powerful protections for the religious rights of prison inmates and in the land use context, and the Agudah has successfully used RLUIPA, either directly or in an amicus capacity, to counter instances where government used questionable zoning tactics to deny the use of land for synagogues and yeshivas.

The case arose after Damon Landor, a Rastafarian inmate whose religious beliefs requires him not to cut his hair, alleged that prison officials knowingly and forcibly shaved his head to violate those beliefs. Mr. Landor sued under RLUIPA. He sought, for the first time under RLUIPA, to not only to prevent this practice, but to hold individual prison officials personally and financially liable.

In a 6–3 decision, the Supreme Court affirmed the Fifth Circuit’s holding that RLUIPA does not allow such damages against state prison officials in their individual capacities. Agudath Israel filed an amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) brief supporting Mr. Landor’s position, urging the Court to interpret RLUIPA to provide meaningful relief for violations of religious liberty.

“Agudath Israel has long advocated for a broad and impactful reading of RLUIPA and other religious liberty protections. While the Court did not adopt that view here, we will continue to advocate vigorously for religious liberty in the many contexts in which these important issues arise,” said Daniel Kaminetsky, General Counsel of Agudath Israel.

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