Inmates at a New York prison will be allowed to view Monday's total eclipse outside after suing over a planned lockdown during the event.
The inmates at Woodbourne Correctional Facility in Sullivan County, N.Y., were objecting toa statewide plan to confine prisoners to their housing units for safety reasons from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday as millions are expected to gather to watch a total solar eclipse sweep across the United States. The lockdown violated their constitutional rights, the inmates argued, because they sought to watch the eclipse in the exercise of their religions.
Thursday's settlement affirmed that argument and could carry weight as the state evaluates other requests for religious accommodations to view the eclipse, attorneys for the inmates told The Washington Post.
The inmates argued that the event "carried religious significance in Christianity, Islam, Santería and atheism" and I imagine some prison administration official reading that and staring at it for a bit thinking and then quietly telling an assistant to run to Target and buy all the eclipse shades they have in stock.
No word on whether they've got Morgan Freeman to narrate the totality on the prison courtyard.
Previously: Marjorie Taylor Greene: eclipse a sign God wants America to repent
