$4,652 for Jewish Nevada Prisoner Denied Passover Meal
by Chuck Sharman
On July 29, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada granted dismissal to a suit filed by state prisoner Thomas Burdsal, 62, after he agreed to accept a $4,652 payment from the state Department of Corrections (DOC) to settle claims that he was subjected to religious discrimination by officials at Lovelock Correctional Center (LCC).
As PLN reported, Burdsal filed a notice as an “interested party” in the religious discrimination suit of fellow LCC prisoner Said Elmajzoub, who settled for $95,000 in March 2024, after the district court issued a permanent injunction forcing the DOC 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.” [See: PLN, Aug. 2025, p.50.]
Burdsal, who is not Muslim but Jewish, claimed in his suit that LCC officials denied him an appropriate meal at the Passover holiday. Worse, as the district court recalled, he alleged in his interested party filing in Elmajzoub’s case 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.”
The DOC did not admit to nor deny any of his allegations in the settlement it reached with Burdsal, who reluctantly proceeded pro se, after his motions for appointed counsel were denied by the district court. See: Burdsal v. Davis, USDC (D. Nev.), Case No. 3:23-cv-00074.
Two other LCC prisoners also filed “interest party” notices in Elmajzoub’s case, joining Burdsal in making claims that prison officials discriminated against their faiths because they were not Protestant Christians. Daniel Riggs, who is Catholic, is now proceeding alone in his suit, after the parole of former co-Plaintiff Bryan Harmer, who is Mormon; his claims were severed into a separate case. Each is also proceeding pro se, and PLN will update developments in both cases as they unfold. See: Riggs V. Davis, USDC (D. Nev.), Case No. 3:24-0443; and Harmer v. Davis, USDC (D. Nev.), Case No. 3:25-314.
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Related legal cases
Riggs V. Davis
| Year | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Cite | USDC (D. Nev.), Case No. 3:24-0443 |
| Level | District Court |
Harmer v. Davis
| Year | 2025 |
|---|---|
| Cite | USDC (D. Nev.), Case No. 3:25-314 |
| Level | District Court |