(RightIsRight.co) – Defying common sense but because a court claims religious beliefs must be respected even if a person is imprisoned, six prisoners will now be able to see next Monday’s total solar eclipse after they took legal action against New York’s corrections department for prohibiting them from seeing the event.
Attorneys representing the six individuals at the Woodbourne Correctional Facility in upstate New York announced that they have reached an agreement with the state. This agreement will allow the men to witness the event “in line with their deeply held religious beliefs.”
Last week, they filed a federal lawsuit claiming that the lockdown on April 8 violated the prisoner’s constitutional rights to practice their religions by preventing their participation in a religiously meaningful event.
Among the six mеn are a Baptist, a Muslim, a Sеventh-Day Adventist, two followers of Santeria, and an atheist.
A spokesperson for the corrections department, Thomas Mailey, stated that the department has consented to allow the six individuals to observe the eclipse, while the litigants have agreed to dismiss their lawsuit with prejudice.
Earlier this week, the department stated that it carefully considered all requests for religious accommodations, which included those related to viewing natural happenings, which were currently being reviewed.
The Department’s Acting Commissioner, Daniel Martuscello III, issued a memorandum last month that indicated all confined individuals must remain in their living units next Monday from 2 pm to 5 pm, the regular hours for outdoor activities in prisons.
He mentioned that the department would provide solar eclipse safety glasses to staff and inmates at prisons in the path of totality, enabling them to watch the event from their assigned work areas or living units.
Nevertheless, six inmates insisted on being allowed to witness the eclipse. Their complaint stated: “A solar eclipse is a rare, natural phenomenon with great religious significance to many.”
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