Jason McKinley Ward v. Jessie Walsh, Associate Warden of Programs

Jason McKinley Ward is the only Orthodox Jewish prisoner at Ely State Prison in Ely, Nevada. He brought suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 , arguing that the prison infringes upon his First Amendment right to exercise freely his religion by not providing him with a kosher diet, clothes made of a single fabric, or an Orthodox rabbi; by not allowing him to have candles in his cell; and by refusing to guarantee that he will not be transported on the Sabbath. He seeks injunctive relief only, and appeals pro se from the district court’s judgment in favor of the warden after a bench trial.

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Religion is the first of our rights under the First Amendment and the Bill of Rights. The right to the free exercise of religion is a precious American invention, distinguishing our Constitution from all prior national constitutions. The right to the free exercise of religion is to be jealously guarded. It is the right of a human being to respond to what that person’s conscience says is the dictate of God. It is not a right to be readily trammeled by the state. A human being does not cease to be human because the human being is a prisoner of the state. “The free exercise right, however, is necessarily…