Supreme Court denies Rastafarian’s lawsuit after he was forcibly shaved bald behind bars
A light rain falls outside of the U.S. Supreme Court ahead of the release of new opinions on June 23, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — A narrowly divided Supreme Court on Tuesday denied a Louisiana man the ability to sue state prison officials for damages after they forcibly shaved him bald behind bars, allegedly violating his religious rights as a devout Rastafarian.
In a 6-3 decision, the court’s conservative majority said federal law did not permit the plaintiff, Damon Landor, to seek money from individual state employees.
Landor, whose locks of hair had grown uncut for 20 years, has said he felt “raped” by the experience.
The ruling was a victory for states, which said such claims could bankrupt them.
Religious rights advocates warned that it would severely restrict the ability of victims of religious discrimination to sue for justice and accountability.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Rep. Thomas Kean Jr. (R-NJ) arrives at the U.S. Capitol on June 30, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. of New Jersey arrived back on Capitol Hill on Tuesday after a nearly four-month absence.
In remarks on the House floor, Kean addressed his time away from Congress, saying he received a depression diagnosis that led to an extended hospital stay.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Jay Clayton testifies during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on Capitol Hill May 8, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Jay Clayton, President Donald Trump’s pick to serve as director of national intelligence, faced repeated questions from Democrats on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence during his confirmation hearing on Wednesday about whether Joe Biden won the 2020 election — with Clayton saying Biden was certified as president, but stopped short of saying he won legitimately.
Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the committee, asked whether Clayton denied that Biden won the 2020 election.
“I’m not an election denier,” Clayton said. “Joe Biden was certified as the president of the United States.
Independent Sen. Angus King later asked Clayton pointedly: “Who won the 2020 election?”
Clayton danced around the answer multiple times — refusing to say outright that Biden won, while reiterating that he believes Biden was certified.
“He went through our processes, and Joe Biden became the president of the United States,” Clayton said.
King responded that “saying Joe Biden was certified is not an answer.”
Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff later said Clayton wasn’t being “honest or forthright” in his responses about Biden’s 2020 election victory.
“You refuse to answer a basic question about who won a presidential election. But you ask to lead America’s intelligence community,” Ossoff said. “Isn’t it humiliating to be unable to answer this question? To have to indulge the president’s delusions? We know, you know, everybody in this room knows the truthful answer to the question. Why can you not give it?”
Both Republicans and Democrats asked Clayton if he were involved in any way with Trump’s primetime address on Thursday that the president said will be a “very big announcement” that will touch on “free and fair elections.” The announcement is based on information he recently received from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence related to the 2020 election, sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News.
Clayton said he is “not involved in that,” affirming that doing so would violate that understanding that he would take no actions that would presume his confirmation as DNI.
Clayton did say that he thought there was room to improve elections and that he would like to work with the committee to do that.
Questions about subpoenas to journalists
Clayton also faced questions about the subpoenas he issued to several journalists at the New York Times last week after the news outlet reported on security concerns involving Trump’s new Qatari-donated Air Force One.
Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden questioned Clayton about the subpoenas he issued — as U.S. attorney in Manhattan — to the journalists, asking when he was directed to issue the subpoenas and who asked him to do so.
Clayton responded that the subpoenas are in connection with an “ongoing national security investigation” and reiterated that he respects the First Amendment and the role of the press. But he did not directly answer Wyden’s question.
“Those subpoenas are in connection with an ongoing national security investigation. I’m happy to talk to you and this committee about our approach to the First Amendment and our efforts in all cases to limit to the greatest extent possible, any intrusion into the operation of the free press,” Clayton said.
Clayton later added that he consulted with career prosecutors in his office before making the decision to issue the subpoeanas. He added that he is confident that the procedures in place to protect the First Amendment and journalists were followed.
Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said the committee was “deeply concerned” with how the process played out, that it “doesn’t sound like the proper independent legal process that we would normally expect for issuance of a subpoena.”
Clayton said that while he understood her concerns, “I want to tell you, I am comfortable with where we are, and I’m comfortable with how we are proceeding from here.”
In a statement on Saturday, a Justice Department spokeswoman said that “reporters are not the targets, those leaking classified information are.”
Clayton, prior to his role as the U.S. attorney, was also the former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Apart from the national security cases he oversaw while serving as U.S. attorney, Clayton also lacks experience in intelligence-gathering and national security matters.
Clayton spent the bulk of his career as a corporate attorney, and prior to his appointment as U.S. attorney last year, lacked meaningful experience in criminal matters.
Clayton will replace the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Trump loyalist Bill Pulte as acting director of national intelligence. Clayton’s hearing came weeks after the president abruptly canceled his previously scheduled confirmation hearing.
Asked about why his hearing was postponed, Clayton said he was “not going to get into private conversations.”
Pulte has been serving as the acting director since June 19. The former DNI, Tulsi Gabbard, announced her intention to resign from the role in May, citing a desire to step away from public service to support her husband following his cancer diagnosis. Gabbard ultimately left the role on June 18, days earlier than planned.
The committee is expected to vote on Clayton’s nomination to be the next DNI some time next week.
Crew members look at an inflated escape device that extends from the side of the Boeing VC-25B “Bridge” Air Force One aircraft to the ground on Sept. 9, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — An inflatable slide deployed on President Donald Trump’s Qatari-gifted Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday afternoon before he was set to board it to head to the Republican Midterm Convention in Dallas, Texas.
Trump appeared to indicate that the emergency slide was deployed intentionally as he waited for about 20 minutes inside Marine One on the tarmac.
“They’re checking the slide over here. And I think it’s gonna take 15 minutes. They were doing a check on the slide, you know, the emergency — so I think it takes about 15 minutes,” Trump told reporters, before adding that it was safe to fly on.
Asked by ABC News why the slide was being checked and if there was a security concern, Trump said they just want to make sure it “works perfectly.” Slides are not typically checked by deploying them before departure as it is a time-consuming process to remove and replace them once they are deployed.
Asked if he was sure the plane was safe to fly, Trump said he was confident that it was.
“Yeah, I am, or I wouldn’t be on it,” Trump said.
The president is set to deliver the keynote address on Wednesday night at the Republicans’ first-ever midterm convention.
The White House referred back the president’s comments when asked about the slide’s deployment.
The slide was later pulled off of the plane and hauled away on the back of a pick-up truck before the plane took off for Dallas.
Trump’s old Air Force One pulled up behind the new jet as a back-up option.
The newly retrofitted Air Force One, a gift from the Qatari royal family worth $400 million, has raised questions from some lawmakers and ethics experts over the unprecedented foreign gift.
Earlier this year, Trump called the jet, which is approximately 14 years old, “the world’s most luxurious plane.” Trump told reporters in July that the plane was going to be “maxed out” — a process that would happen “in about a month or so” he said.
Also in July, Trump secretly switched planes — using a catering food truck and a military aircraft, sources told ABC News — while leaving a NATO summit in Turkey amid threats against him from Iran.
ABC News’ Sam Sweeney and Sarah Beth Hensley contributed to this report.
