$95,000 Paid to Nevada Prisoner Denied Muslim Prayer; Pending Cases Allege Continued Discrimination Against Non-Protestants
On December 6, 2024, two Nevada prisoners filed notices as interested parties in the religious discrimination case of a third, Said Elmajzoub. By that point, he had won a $95,000 settlement from the state Department of Corrections (DOC), resolving his claims its officials unreasonably refused to accommodate his request for Muslim Jumu’ah prayer. The outstanding claims of the other two prisoners, however, point to more pervasive religious discrimination against prisoners who are not Protestant Christians.
As PLN reported, Elmajzoub was held at Lovelock Correctional Center (LCC) in 2018 when his request for the Friday afternoon prayer gathering was denied. Prison officials offered him another time. But that’s not what Elmajzoub’s faith requires. He filed suit, bringing a First Amendment religious discrimination claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, as well as a claim under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), 42 U.S.C. ch. 21C § 2000cc et seq. Finding that Defendants substantially burdened his religious beliefs without a compelling safety or security interest to justify it, the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada granted the prisoner summary judgment on his RLUIPA claim. [See: PLN, Jan. 2023, p.30.]
Following that ruling, on November 9, 2022, the district court granted a permanent injunction ordering DOC Defendants to “schedule weekly Jumu’ah services at LCC on Fridays from 12:30 p.m. to 1:45 p.m., and all LCC Muslim inmates are allowed to attend in congregation.” The parties proceeded then to reach a settlement agreement in March 2024. Under its terms, DOC agreed to deposit $2,160.46 in Elmajzoub’s trust account and pay another $83,580.20 in legal fees and $9,259.34 in costs to his attorneys with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Legal Defense Fund in Washington, D.C. The prisoner was also represented by Las Vegas attorney Allen Lichtenstein.
LCC has an ugly history of religious discrimination. As PLN reported, the DOC paid $75,000 in 2023 to settle claims that prison officials conspired to manipulate the chapel schedule to muscle out prisoners in two groups, including The Way, which counted another Muslim prisoner as a member. [See: PLN, Sep. 2023, p.54.] During discovery for that case, meeting notes made by LCC Chaplain Scott Davis recorded his private thoughts about the group’s request that was denied: “I couldn’t say in front of all of them that it was because they teach racism, hate and black supremacy. There would have been a riot.” Responding to that on August 12, 2022, U.S. District Judge Miranda Du wrote, “It is hard for the Court to imagine a stronger piece of evidence in support of Plaintiffs’… conspiracy claim.” See: Shaw v. Davis, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 144298 (D. Nev.).
Just three months later, on November 23, 2022, Du continued to inveigh against DOC officials in Elmajzoub’s case, granting his motion to hold them in contempt because “Defendants continue to disobey the Court’s order by forcing Muslim inmates at [LCC] to pray on filthy floors in the prison cafeteria rather than the chapel, despite repeatedly representing to the Court that the chapel was open to Muslim inmates ‘anytime’ on Fridays and no other services were scheduled there.” See: Elmajzoub v. Davis, USDC (D. Nev.), Case No. 3:19-cv-00196.
In a letter to PLN, Elmajzoub said “[t]his issue could have been resolved by giving us any room, closet or hallway in the prison on Friday afternoons for 15-20 minutes.” However, he added, “[a]ll the wardens, directors, case workers, chaplains and their college degrees refused.” Elmajzoub hazarded no guess on the reason why. But “interested party” filings in his case by two other Nevada prisoners present a sinister possibility.
One of those filings was made by LCC prisoner Thomas Burdsal, whose suit pending in the district court alleges that he was denied the Passover meal required by his Jewish faith. Another suit by LCC prisoner Daniel Riggs alleges that he and a now-paroled former co-plaintiff, Bryan Harmer, were subjected to religious discrimination for their Catholic and Mormon faiths, respectively—including by preventing them from holding services on Sunday. As the district court recalled, they alleged that “there is a ‘shadow Government’ comprised of all Defendants … and many non-defendants who work together to enforce Protestantism as the official religion at LCC and deny other faith groups their religious freedoms.”
Riggs, who is proceeding pro se, filed for an injunction on June 30, 2025. See: Riggs v. Davis, USDC (D. Nev.), Case No. 3:24-cv-00443. Burdsal, also proceeding pro se, filed a notice of settlement that same month. See: Burdsal v. Davis, USDC (D. Nev.), Case No. 3:23-cv-00074. PLN has requested a copy of the settlement agreement and will update developments in both cases as they unfold.
Additional source: Nevada Current
As a digital subscriber to Prison Legal News, you can access full text and downloads for this and other premium content.
Already a subscriber? Login
Related legal case
Elmajzoub v. Davis
| Year | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Cite | USDC (D. Nev.), Case No. 3:19-cv-00196 |
| Level | District Court |
| Conclusion | Settlement |