- Inmate Jeremy Zielinski and five others successfully sued the state to view Monday's solar eclipse.
- "It's impossible to overstate how sublime it is," Zielinski told Business Insider through his attorney.
- Last week, the state corrections department agreed to let the group of men observe the eclipse.
One of the six incarcerated men who sued New York state for the chance to view Monday's solar eclipse hailed the group's success as "sublime."
"It's impossible to overstate how sublime it is. But it's not just the eclipse itself — it's that we'll be seeing it together," Jeremy Zielinski, one of six men incarcerated at the Woodbourne Correctional Facility in Sullivan County who filed the lawsuit, told Business Insider in an interview through his attorney.
Zielinksi is an atheist who, according to state prison records, is serving a 14.5-year sentence for first-degree rape.
"The real victory here is that the state had to recognize that religious beliefs aren't faith-specific and are protected even when they're based in different faiths," he added.
The religiously diverse group of men argued in a federal lawsuit filed late last month that Monday's solar eclipse holds religious significance to them and they would "be denied their statutory and constitutional rights to practice their religions" if they were not able to view the celestial event.
The incarcerated men argued in their lawsuit that the corrections department's decision to lock down its prisons statewide on Monday illegally prohibited them from observing the phenomenon.
The plaintiffs included a Baptist, a Seventh-Day Adventist, as well as followers of Islam and Santeria, according to the court documents.
Last week, the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision agreed to let the group of men observe the celestial event on Monday when a rare solar eclipse will cross the United States and darken the skies.
"More than anything, it's a chance to celebrate that beneath any illusions of difference, we all have things in common," Zielinksi told Business Insider through his attorney. "And in a lot of ways, it sparked really important conversations and dialogue that otherwise wouldn't have happened."
He continued, "The outpouring of support shows that many people really care deeply about finding ways to connect."
Zielinksi first submitted a request to the state to view the eclipse in January and received confirmation that his request was granted in March. He then re-submitted his request to watch the eclipse with other inmates "who hold sincere religious beliefs regarding the importance of the solar eclipse," which included the other plaintiffs, according to the lawsuit.
Four other plaintiffs initially had their requests denied.
Zielinksi told Business Insider through his attorney that from the start, the group of men wanted the experience to be a "celebration of our shared humanity, an everyone-is-welcome event."
"I hope the state fully embraces its recognition of how important this is to people and quickly approves any requests to join us we might not know about yet," Zielinksi said.
The state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Business Insider on Monday.