Fifth Circuit Pitches Supreme Court on Religious Liberty Case

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit split over whether they could rule for a prisoner’s ability to get money damages for alleged violations of his religious rights, or if the US Supreme Court should resolve the question.

The New Orleans-based court said in an order Tuesday that it wouldn’t rehear en banc a September panel ruling against Damon Landor, a Rastafarian who alleged state prison employees in Louisiana illegally and forcibly shaved his hair. That was in violation of a 2017 ruling from the court that said the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act meant ...