• chaogomu
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    20 hours ago

    The court ruled that the guards were likely in the wrong, but that the man had to sue them in state court because the prison had never received federal funding and thus federal jurisdiction and the particular federal law allowing lawsuits didn’t apply.

    • gAlienLifeform
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      20 hours ago

      The court ruled that the guards were likely in the wrong

      That’s just empty language, not any kind of ruling with legal force behind it

      the man had to sue them in state court because the prison had never received federal funding

      TIL the first amendment has no effect if you’re transferred to the wrong state prison

      In 2020, near the end of ‌a five-month prison sentence for drug possession, Landor was transferred to the Raymond Laborde correctional center in Cottonport, Louisiana.

      There, Landor reminded officials that the New Orleans-based fifth US circuit court of appeals had ruled in a 2017 case that Louisiana’s policy of cutting the hair of Rastafarians violated the 2000 law. Landor even handed over a copy of that ruling, but a guard threw it in the trash, according to court documents in the case.

      Landor was then handcuffed to a chair, held down and shaved.

      So the majority opinion is that a state agency can willfully violate a federal law but federal judges can’t do anything about it. If that sounds stupid and racist to you that’s because it is.

      • chaogomu
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        19 hours ago

        It’s worse when you look at the history of that federal law, section 1983.

        The court keeps gutting it because it was a law made to help protect former slaves from southern racists in positions of power.

      • chaogomu
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        18 hours ago

        The court is still participating in a miscarriage if justice, because the law this man sued under was meant for situations exactly like this. Section 1983 was added to the federal code just after the civil war, and is how you sue the government over violated rights.

        The court is abdicating their power here, because of racism and authoritarianism.

        • phoenixarise
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          17 hours ago

          I see that, as well. I hope this man gets the justice he deserves.