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Emad v. Dodge County (7th Cir.)

Dodge Correctional Institution

While detained at the Dodge County Detention Facility in Wisconsin, Mohamed Salah Ahmed Emad, a devout Muslim, repeatedly sought permission to engage in congregate religious worship and prayer outside his cell. Government officials denied these requests, and Emad sued alleging violations of his constitutional rights. After the district court ruled against Emad, he appealed.

Notre Dame Law School’s Lindsay and Matt Moroun Religious Liberty Clinic filed an amicus brief on behalf of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty in support of Emad’s appeal. The brief calls the Court’s attention to the longstanding history and tradition of congregate religious exercise in American prisons, and demonstrates that the Constitution protects those practices from arbitrary government interference.

The Seventh Circuit reversed the lower court’s decision and remanded for further proceedings to resolve critical factual disputes. The parties subsequently settled Emad’s claims.

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Appellate Court (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit)

Trial Court (U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin)

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