Inmates in New York are taking the state corrections department to court for deciding to lock down prisons during the upcoming total solar eclipse.
The lawsuit, filed on Friday in federal court in upstate New York, argues that the April 8 lockdown violates prisoners’ rights to practice their religions by stopping them from participating in a religiously important event.
The plaintiffs are six men with different religious beliefs who are imprisoned at the Woodbourne Correctional Facility in Woodbourne. They consist of a Baptist, a Muslim, a Seventh-Day Adventist, two followers of Santeria, and an atheist.
The complaint states that a solar eclipse is a rare, natural event with great religious significance to many, citing that Bible passages describe an eclipse-like phenomenon during Jesus’ crucifixion and sacred Islamic works describe a similar event during the death of the Prophet Muhammad’s son.
The astronomical event, last seen in the U.S. in 2017 and not expected to be visible in the country again until 2044, “justifies gathering, celebration, worship, and prayer,” the complaint states.
According to the lawsuit, one of the named plaintiffs, an atheist, was granted special permission last month to view the eclipse using glasses provided by the state, but that was before the system-wide lockdown was imposed.
Four other plaintiffs requested permission afterwards but were refused by officials who determined that the solar eclipse is not recognized as a holy day for their religions, the lawsuit claims. The sixth inmate said he never got a response.
Thomas Mailey, a corrections department spokesperson, stated that the agency doesn’t comment on ongoing legal matters but considers all requests for religious accommodations. He mentioned that those related to watching the eclipse are currently being reviewed.
Daniel Martuscello III, the department’s acting commissioner, issued a memo on March 11 announcing that all state correctional facilities will follow a holiday schedule next Monday. This means prisoners will stay in their housing units except for emergencies from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., which are typically the regular hours for outdoor activities in prisons, as stated in the lawsuit.
At nearly two dozen prisons in the path of totality next Monday, there will be no visitation, while visitation at other correctional facilities will end at 2 p.m.
Martuscello mentioned that the department will distribute solar eclipse safety glasses to staff and prisoners at prisons in the path of totality so they can observe the eclipse from their assigned work location or housing units.
Communities in the western and northern parts of the state are anticipated to experience the best observing of the full solar eclipse, such as Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Lake Placid, and Plattsburgh.
The entire solar eclipse is anticipated to be visible in those areas of New York around 3:15 p.m. and will only last a short time as the moon moves between the Earth and the sun, temporarily blocking the sun and causing day to turn into night.
