Six inmates who filed a lawsuit against the New York Department of Corrections over its decision to keep inmates in confinement during next Monday’s total solar eclipse will be able to see the celestial phenomenon after all.
Lawyers for the six men serving time at Woodbourne Correctional Facility in upstate New York said Thursday they have reached an agreement with the state that will allow their clients to view the solar eclipse “in accordance with their faithful religious beliefs.” .
They filed a federal lawsuit last week, arguing that the April 8 lockdown violates inmates’ constitutional rights to practice their faith by preventing them from taking part in an event of religious significance. The inmates are a Baptist, a Muslim, a Seventh-day Adventist, two Santeros and an atheist.
Thomas Mailey, a spokesman for the corrections department, said the agency had agreed to give the six individuals permission to view the eclipse, while the plaintiff agreed to drop its lawsuit.
“The lawsuit has reached an appropriate resolution,” he added in an emailed statement.
The department noted a few days ago that it takes into account all religious exemption requests and that all those related to the eclipse are currently being reviewed.
Daniel Martuscello III, acting commissioner of the department, issued a memo last month in which he ordered that all incarcerated individuals remain in their cells next Monday from 2 to 5 p.m., a time that is usually for outdoor recreation in the prisons.
He noted that the department will distribute protective glasses to its staff and inmates in prisons located on the path in which the eclipse will reach its totality phase, so that they can safely view the phenomenon from their assigned workplace or from their cells.
Communities located in the west and north of the state will have the best view of the moment when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, temporarily blocking the passage of sunlight.
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