Background
The petitioner, an inmate at the Illinois State Prison, brought a writ of ''certiorari'' alleging that solely because he was a Black Muslim he was denied permission to buy religious publications and also denied other privileges accorded other prisoners. The District Court had granted the respondent's motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim for which relief could be granted. The Court of Appeals affirmed..Opinion of the Court
The Supreme Court reversed the judgment, stating the lower courts were in error to dismiss the stated cause of action as the petitioner is entitled to have his case heard on its merits.Significance
This case made clear that prison authorities must do whatever is within their ability to treat individuals of every religious group equally, unless they can demonstrate good reasons to do otherwise.See also
* List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 378References
Further reading
*External links
* {{caselaw source , case = ''Cooper v. Pate'', {{ussc, 378, 546, 1964, el=no , courtlistener =https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/106889/cooper-v-pate/ , googlescholar = https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=17891754659670360724 , justia =https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/378/546/ , loc =http://cdn.loc.gov/service/ll/usrep/usrep378/usrep378546/usrep378546.pdf