Eight Muslim inmates won $667,000 after being pepper-sprayed and jailed for praying in prison, with jury finding violations of religious and medical rights.

A federal jury in Missouri has awarded $667,000 in damages to eight Muslim men who were pepper-sprayed, handcuffed, and placed in solitary confinement while praying in their prison housing unit at the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center on February 28, 2021. The men, who had been permitted to pray together after the prison chapel closed during the pandemic, were denied soap and running water to rinse off the pepper spray, with some using toilet water. They were initially charged with a major misconduct violation, later reduced to a minor one, and released on March 10, 2021. The lawsuit, filed in 2023 by the CAIR Legal Fund and Council on American-Islamic Relations-Missouri, alleged excessive force, violation of religious rights, and deliberate indifference to medical needs. The jury ruled in favor of the plaintiffs on all counts. The Missouri Department of Corrections did not respond to requests for comment.