Inmates will see solar eclipse after suing New York over prison lockdown
Prisoners will be allowed to watch next week’s total solar eclipse after suing New York’s corrections department.
A lockdown of prisons had been ordered by the state corrections department for the same day as the eclipse on 8 April, meaning inmates could not be outside during usual recreation hours and would miss the event.
In response, the six inmates at the Woodbourne Correctional Facility – who each have different religious backgrounds – sued the New York branch and argued the lockdown violated their constitutional rights to practice their faiths by preventing them from taking part in a religiously significant event.
The celestial event was last visible in the US in 2017 and will not be seen in the country again until 2044.
“A solar eclipse is a rare, natural phenomenon with great religious significance to many,” the complaint had said.
On Thursday, their lawyers announced they had reached a settlement so the convicts could watch the eclipse.
Where the total solar eclipse will be visible. Pic: AP
Thomas Mailey, a spokesperson for the New York department, said they agreed to permit the six individuals to see the event as the group agreed to drop their suit with prejudice.
“The lawsuit came to an appropriate resolution,” he added in a statement,
The six men included a Baptist, a Muslim, a Seventh-Day Adventist, two practitioners of Santeria, and an atheist.
The lawsuit alleged that the atheist received special permission in March to view the eclipse using glasses provided by the state – but that decision was made before the announcement of the lockdown at the prison.
Four of the other plaintiffs sought permission afterwards but were denied by officials who ruled the solar eclipse is not listed as a holy day for their religions, the lawsuit stated. A sixth inmate said he never received a response.
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File pic: AP
The total eclipse is expected to be seen in New York at about 3.15pm and will last a few minutes as the moon passes between the Earth and the sun.
According to NASA, it will begin over the South Pacific, with its path reaching Mexico’s Pacific coast before entering the US in Texas.
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It will then go through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, a tiny piece of Tennessee, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, a small area of Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.
Children are among the fatalities in a mass shooting at a child’s birthday party in California.
Police said four people had died and 10 were wounded in the incident in Stockton, about 60 miles east of San Francisco.
Officers were called on Saturday to a banquet hall just before 6pm local time (2am UK time) and district attorney Ron Freitas said children were among the dead.
He said the attacker was still at large.
First responders walk through a parking lot near the scene of a mass shooting in Stockton, California. Pics: AP
“We can confirm at this time that approximately 14 individuals were struck by gunfire, and four victims have been confirmed deceased,” San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office said on X.
The post said early indications suggest it could be a “targeted incident” but that information remains limited.
Police have so far not disclosed the attacker’s identity and the motive is unclear.
Stockton’s vice mayor Jason Lee confirmed on Facebook that the shooting on Lucile Avenue happened at a child’s birthday party.
Pics: AP
Mayor Christina Fugazzi also said that “families should be together instead of at the hospital, standing next to their loved one, praying that they survive”.
California governor Gavin Newsom’s office added that he had been briefed on the “horrific shooting”.
Venezuela has accused Donald Trump of a “colonial threat” after he said the airspace “above and surrounding” the country should be considered closed “in its entirety”.
Mr Trump made the declaration amid growing tensions with President Maduro – and as the US continues attacking boats it claims are carrying drugs from Venezuela.
He wrote on Truth Social: “To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.”
Air traffic above Venezuela on Saturday afternoon. Pic: FlightRadar24
Venezuela’s foreign affairs office called it a “colonial threat” and “illegal, and unjustified aggression”.
It accused the president of threatening “the sovereignty of the national airspace… and the full sovereignty of the Venezuelan state”.
President Trump’s words were part of a “permanent policy of aggression against our country” that breached international law and the UN Charter, it added.
The Pentagon and the White House have so far not given any additional detail on the president’s statement.
Mr Trump’s post comes after the American aviation regulator last week warned of a “potentially hazardous situation” over Venezuela due to a “worsening security situation”.
Nicolas Maduro is widely considered a dictator by the West. Pic: Reuters
The South American nation revoked operating rights for six major airlines that went on to suspend flights to the country.
Mr Trump warned a few days ago that land operations against suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers would begin “very soon”.
Such a move would be a major escalation in Operation Southern Spear – the US naval deployment in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific that’s so far attacked at least 21 vessels.
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Three killed as US strikes another alleged drug boat
Venezuela has said the attacks, which have killed more than 80 people, amount to murder.
The US has released videos of boats being targeted, but hasn’t provided evidence – such as photos of their cargo – to support the smuggling claims.
Read more:
Trump may have another motive in war on drugs
The US-Venezuela crisis explained
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Venezuela claims Trump creating ‘fables’ to justify ‘war’
The Pentagon has sought to justify the strikes by labelling the drug gangs as “foreign terrorist organisations” – putting them on par with the likes of al Qaeda.
It claims the boats targeted are carrying drugs bound for the US, although Sky’s chief correspondent says the final destination is likely to be Europe and West Africa.
President Maduro has denied Mr Trump’s claims he is involved in the drugs trade himself and said his counterpart wants to oust him so he can install a more sympathetic government.
Venezuelan officials have also claimed Mr Trump’s true motivation is access to the country’s plentiful oil reserves.
Mr Maduro is widely considered a dictator who’s cheated elections and has been president since 2013.
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