NY prison inmates who sued department over denial to watch solar eclipse will finally witness it

People across the United States are excited to witness a rare total solar eclipse that will actually be visible in certain areas throughout the country—including New York. Six New York prison inmates who sued the state's corrections department, which had decided to lockdown prisoners during the solar eclipse, will get to watch the celestial phenomenon, as reported by The Washington Post. The inmates from the Woodbourne Correctional Facility in Sullivan County, New York, filed the lawsuit against a statewide plan to keep the prisoners indoors for safety reasons from 2 pm to 5 pm on April 8, Monday. 

The prisoners stated that the lockdown violated their constitutional rights because they wanted to watch the eclipse due to their religious beliefs. The attorneys said that this ruling by the state "carried weight" as other requests are being evaluated for religious accommodations to witness the eclipse. Christopher L McArdle, an attorney representing the inmates, said in a statement that they are pleased that "the state has entered into a binding settlement agreement" that will let the six inmates view the eclipse as per their held religious beliefs. These six men include a Baptist, a Muslim, a Seventh-Day Adventist, two practitioners of Santeria, and an atheist, per PBS.

New York Department of Corrections and Community Supervision spokesperson Thomas Mailey said that the department had started reviewing requests for the six inmates before the lawsuit and concluded that they should be permitted to view the eclipse. "The lawsuit came to an appropriate resolution," Mailey said in a statement. The inmates had claimed that watching the eclipse held religious significance in Christianity, Islam, Santeria, and atheism. Now, they will be allowed to view the eclipse outdoors in the prison yard with protective glasses, which the corrections departments will provide, said Madeline Byrd, another attorney for the inmates. He added that it would be the experience they asked for. 

Daniel Martuscello III, the department's acting commissioner, had earlier issued a memo stating that all inmates were to be in their housing units on April 8, from 2 pm to 5 pm, which is usually their outdoor recreation hours in prisons. He said that the department will provide protective glasses for staff and inmates to watch the eclipse from their assigned work locations or housing units. Jeremy Zielinski, the sole atheist among the plaintiffs, was also allowed to witness the celestial phenomenon on religious grounds in March before the lockdown was announced. The six inmates explained in a statement why the solar eclipse was an important occasion for their religion - it is a time to perform a special Muslim prayer, it evokes a scene from the New Testament and it is a time to celebrate science and reason.

Byrd hoped this ruling would set a precedent for other inmates who want to witness the eclipse. He said, "We're hopeful [the corrections department] will do the right thing. We're hopeful they will also review the other requests and grant them."