Inmates will view solar eclipse outside as religious right in settlement victory

The moon eclipses the sun over Escalante, Utah, during the annular eclipse on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023. (Photo by Bryon Houlgrave/NurPhoto via AP)

The moon eclipses the sun over Escalante, Utah, during the annular eclipse on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023. (Photo by Bryon Houlgrave/NurPhoto via AP)

A group of inmates in upstate New York who sued for the right to view the solar eclipse on April 8 as part of their sincere religious beliefs are claiming victory after a settlement agreement was reached on Thursday.

As Law&Crime previously reported, the half dozen inmates, Jeremy Zielinski, Travis Hudson, Bruce Moses, Oscar Nunez, Jean Marc Desmarat, and David Haigh at the Woodbourne Correctional Facility in Sullivan County sued the New York Department of Corrections arguing that the natural phenomenon was part and parcel of their respective ways to honor their gods, or, in the case of the lead plaintiff, Jeremy Zelinski, an atheist, to observe the eclipse in the company of all who “gather to celebrate science and reason.”

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