New York prisoners, denied a solar eclipse viewing, sue the state

When the moon crosses in front of the sun on Monday afternoon and, for a few minutes, casts a shadow over much of New York state, millions of people will be able to witness the rare celestial event just by looking up. Inmates in the state’s prisons will not.

Last month, the state’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision announced that, because of safety concerns, all New York prisons would be locked down during the solar eclipse.

In response, six men at an upstate prison filed a federal lawsuit against the department on Friday, arguing that denying them the opportunity to view the eclipse would violate their constitutional right to practice their religion.

The men, who are incarcerated at Woodbourne Correctional Facility in Sullivan County, come from varying religious backgrounds, but all believe that the upcoming solar eclipse “is a religious event that they must witness and reflect on to observe their faiths,” according to court documents.

“Many religions recognize the significance of this historic eclipse, and we are advocating for everyone’s right to observe it,” said Chris McArdle, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs.

The Bible describes an eclipse-like event during Jesus’ crucifixion, and according to the Hadith, a sacred Islamic text, there was a similar phenomenon after the death of the Prophet Muhammad’s son.

One of the men who filed the lawsuit, Jeremy Zielinski, is an atheist, and said he believed eclipses were special times to “celebrate science, reason and all things Atheism,” according to court documents.

In January, Zielinski was the first to request permission to view the eclipse from Woodbourne’s main yard, according to court documents. After several weeks of back and forth, prison officials approved Zielinski’s request and even said they would provide him with solar eclipse safety glasses, prosecutors said.

Zielinski soon learned that other people in the prison also considered eclipses religiously significant and were interested in viewing the eclipse, according to court documents. Zielinski renewed his initial request and asked that others be permitted to watch alongside him.

“It frankly would be incredibly sad to be the only person able to see this event,” Zielinski wrote in the request. He added, “Eclipses are important because they inspire awe and deep reflection, and are a rare opportunity for everyone to come together, enjoy our common humanity, and share joy at being alive.”

Then, on March 11, the state corrections department’s acting commissioner, Daniel F Martuscello III, issued a statewide memo ordering that all correctional facilities be locked down on the day of the eclipse from 2 pm to 5 pm — the normal hours for outdoor recreation.

“Incarcerated individuals will remain in housing units except for emergency situations,” Martuscello said in the memo.

He added that there would be no visitation that day at the 23 facilities in the path of totality — where the moon passes directly over the sun and temporarily blocks all sunlight — and that visitation would end at 2 pm at all other prisons.

These measures, Martuscello said in the memo, were to “ensure the safety of staff, visitors and the incarcerated population, and to ensure the integrity of our facilities during this event.”

He said the department would, however, distribute safety glasses at prisons in the path of totality.

McArdle said the department had failed to adequately explain why the eclipse was a safety concern.

“There’s some level of darkness every night when the sun goes down, so they should know how to deal with that,” he said. There was no such directive when there was a partial solar eclipse in 2017, he noted.

A department spokesman declined to elaborate on why additional safety precautions were deemed necessary during the eclipse, saying in a statement that the department does not comment on pending litigation.

The lockdown announcement was a blow to Zielinski and other inmates. Even after the order was issued, the five other men who are now plaintiffs in the lawsuit also sought permission to view the eclipse in Woodbourne’s main yard. Their requests were either ignored or denied by officials who said the solar eclipse was not listed as a holy day for their religions, according to court documents.

Some of the men expressed worry that they might not see the next total solar eclipse in the United States, due in 2044.

Jean Marc Desmarat, a plaintiff who is Muslim, wrote in court documents, “The eclipse is the last eclipse that will happen for 20 years and I am 60 years old.”

McArdle said he was “optimistic the department will do the right thing” and that the situation would be resolved in time.

The path of totality includes 29 counties in northern and western New York. Places outside that area are still expected to experience a dramatic partial eclipse.