Despite his career thriving while behind bars, Tory Lanez is still dealing with some major issues behind bars. For one, his attempts to appeal his conviction have been thwarted by the California Supreme Court. Secondly, he’s still dealing with the aftermath of the prison stabbing. In April, he filed a $100M lawsuit in California for the incident. Now, he's facing a new hurdle.
According to a motion filed on July 29, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) maintains that federal courts lack jurisdiction over the agency in this matter. Per All Hip Hop, the filing asks the court to dismiss Lanez’s complaint with prejudice, which prevents him from amending and refiling the case.
The lawsuit ultimately surrounds the stabbing that occurred in May 2025 while Lanez was incarcerated at California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi. Prosecutors alleged another inmate, Santino Casio, attacked the rapper with a homemade weapon and left him with 16 stab wounds across his head, face, back and torso. The injuries resulted in two collapsed lungs, emergency air transport to a Bakersfield hospital and time on a ventilator before he recovered.
Lanez has since described the psychological impact of the assault in an interview. “Truthfully, I’ve done my best to keep my head above water, but mentally, I’ve gone through trauma that I sometimes even struggle with,” Lanez explained.
Tory Lanez Lawsuit Rejected
His legal team alleges prison officials failed to adequately protect him despite Casio’s extensive history of violent offenses and disciplinary violations behind bars. The complaint also accuses correctional staff of responding too slowly during the attack and failing to deploy available emergency measures that could have limited the injuries.
Along with monetary damages that Tory’s legal team is seeking, they also alleged that the officials confiscated Lanez’s notebooks filled with unreleased music that they never returned.
CDCR counters that it cannot be sued under the federal civil rights statute cited in the complaint and argues the Eleventh Amendment grants the agency immunity from both federal and state law claims.
