Cooper v. Pate

Cooper v. Pate, 378 U.S. 546 (1964), was a U.S. Supreme Court 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 (1963) allowing prison inmates to employ a writ of habeas corpus to challenge the legality of their sentencing and the conditions of their imprisonment.[1]

Cooper v. Pate
Decided June 22, 1964
Full case nameCooper v. Pate, warden
Citations378 U.S. 546 (more)
84 S. Ct. 1733; 12 L. Ed. 2d 1030
Case history
Prior324 F.2d 165 (7th Cir. 1963)
Holding
The judgment by the District Court, 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, was reverted.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Earl Warren
Associate Justices
Hugo Black · William O. Douglas
Tom C. Clark · John M. Harlan II
William J. Brennan Jr. · Potter Stewart
Byron White · Arthur Goldberg
Case opinion
Per curiam

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.[2]

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.[2]

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.[3]

See also

References
  1. "Prisoner Rights, Litigation, and Correctional Law". Archived from the original on 2007-12-16. Retrieved 2007-12-10.
  2. Cooper v. Pate, 378 U.S. 546 (1964).
  3. "Religion in Corrections - Legal issues". Archived from the original on 2006-05-19. Retrieved 2007-12-10.

Further reading
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