Cooper V.S Pate 1964

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ntroduction to Criminal Justice Briefing Assignment CITATION The name of the case Cooper V. City of Illinois. Thomas Copper is the Plaintiff; the City of Illinois is the defendant. The United States Courts of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Court decided this case in 1964. The citation states that this case can be found in Volume 382 of the Federal Reporter, Second Series, on page 518. FACTS this lawsuit was brought to the courts for a second time as the plaintiff alleged that because of his religious beliefs he was denied permission to purchase certain religious publications and denied other privileges enjoyed by other prisoners. The first appeal on this case the defendant court affirmed judgment dismissing the complaint for failure to state a cause of action. The district court found that the plaintiff had not sustained his burden of showing that this was abuse. So the plaintiff appealed. ISSUE the district court stated that the books the plaintiff wanted was not necessary for the practice of Cooper’s faith. The court also stated that the prison does offer foreign language, the Plaintiff, however, was seeking opportunity for self-instruction for a language of his choice. Cooper was placed in segregation for a number of years. From 1957-59. He claimed that was another issue he had with the district. He filled a motion to release him from segregation. The district denied his motion stating that he was not segregated due to his religion, but due to several fights he had with prison guards in prior years. Copper argued the since prisoners are not permitted to attend religious services while in segregation, keeping him in segregation is a deprivation of his religious freedom. DECISION The Supreme Court reversed, holding that plaintiff Cooper’s complaint did state a cause of action. They found that there are less drastic and less sweeping means of achieving necessary
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