''Cooper v. Pate'', 378 U.S. 546 (1964), was a

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

case in which the court ruled for the first time that state prison inmates have the standing to sue in federal court to address their grievances under the Civil Rights Act of 1871. This case followed ''

Jones v. Cunningham ''Jones v. Cunningham'', 371 U.S. 236 (1963), was a Supreme Court case in which the court first ruled that state inmates had the right to file a writ of habeas corpus challenging both the legality and the conditions of their imprisonment. Prior ...

'' (1963) allowing prison inmates to employ a writ of ''habeas corpus'' to challenge the legality of their sentencing and the conditions of their imprisonment.

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.

References

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
The Religious Justice and Law Religious Liberty Archive
Imprisonment and detention in the United States Penal system in the United States Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause case law United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Warren Court 1964 in United States case law

Background

Opinion of the Court

Significance

See also

References

Further reading

External links