Inmates in New York are suing to prevent a lockdown at prisons during next Monday's total solar eclipse.
The eclipse is expected to sweep across much of the country on April 8, cutting through chunks of upstate New York. Residents of cities including Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse can expect to experience a total blackout for 1 ½ to 3 ½ minutes, shortly after 3 p.m.
"The April 8 eclipse is a once in a generation experience, and there's no better place to view it than in our beautiful state," New York's Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement on Monday.
However, the state corrections department ordered 44 prisons to lock down during the event.
Now, a federal lawsuit on behalf of several prisoners claims that the lockdown violates their constitutional rights to practice their faiths by preventing them from taking part in a religiously significant event.
The plaintiffs are six men who are incarcerated at the Woodbourne Correctional Facility, the Associated Press reported.
They include a Baptist, a Muslim, a Seventh-Day Adventist, two practitioners of Santeria and an atheist.
"A solar eclipse is a rare, natural phenomenon with great religious significance to many," the complaint reads.
The eclipse will "warrant gathering, celebration, worship, and prayer," the complaint reads.
The lawsuit states that one of the named plaintiffs, an atheist, received special permission last month to view the eclipse using glasses that would be provided by the state, but that was before the system-wide lockdown was issued.
Four of the other plaintiffs subsequently sought permission but were denied by officials who ruled the solar eclipse is not listed as a holy day for their religions, the lawsuit states. The sixth inmate said he never received a response.
A corrections department spokesperson wouldn't comment on the pending litigation.
Daniel Martuscello III, the department's acting commissioner, reportedly issued a memo March 11 announcing the lockdown.
But he said that solar eclipse safety glasses would be given to staff and prison inmates in the path of totality so they can view the eclipse from their assigned work location or housing units.
