Prisoners win fight to view solar eclipse
5 April 2024, 07:14
New York’s corrections department had taken the decision to lock down prisons during Monday’s total eclipse.
Six inmates who sued New York’s corrections department over its decision to lock down prisons during Monday’s total solar eclipse will get to watch the event after all.
Lawyers for the six men at the Woodbourne Correctional Facility in upstate New York said on Thursday they have reached a settlement with the state that will allow the men to view the solar eclipse “in accordance with their sincerely held religious beliefs”.
They filed a federal suit last week arguing the April 8 lockdown violates inmates’ constitutional rights to practise their faiths by preventing them from taking part in a religiously significant event.
The six men include a Baptist, a Muslim, a Seventh-Day Adventist, two practitioners of Santeria and an atheist.
Thomas Mailey, a spokesperson for the corrections department, said the department has agreed to permit the six individuals to view the eclipse, while plaintiffs have agreed to drop their suit with prejudice.
The department said earlier this week that it takes all requests for religious accommodations under consideration and that those related to viewing the eclipse were currently under review.
Daniel Martuscello III, the department’s acting commissioner, issued a memo last month ordering all incarcerated individuals to remain in their housing units next Monday from 2pm to 5pm, which are the normal hours for outdoor recreation in prisons.
He said the department will distribute solar eclipse safety glasses for staff and inmates at prisons in the path of totality so they can view the eclipse from their assigned work location or housing units.
