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The six inmates, incarcerated at Woodbourne Correctional Facility in Sullivan County, agreed to drop their federal lawsuit after the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) granted their religious request to watch the celestial spectacle, according to Thomas Mailey, a spokesperson for the agency.
“In advance of the lawsuit being filed, the department had begun performing the requisite analysis regarding religious accommodations received to view the eclipse, including an analysis on requests that were received from the six named individuals,” Mailey said. “The lawsuit came to an appropriate resolution.”
The complaint – originally filed in the Northern District of New York on behalf of a Baptist, a Muslim, a Seventh-Day Adventist, two practitioners of Santería, and one atheist – took issue with a planned lockdown at 23 correctional facilities that are located in the eclipse’s path of totality.
During the lockdown, no visitors will be allowed and inmates will be confined to their housing or work units. The move is meant to ensure the safety of New York’s prison population as well as correctional staff, Mailey said.
“Recognizing the surge of visitors expected in the region during the eclipse, the department is working with the New York State Eclipse Interagency Task Force to ensure DOCCS visitors and staff are not stuck in traffic or otherwise stranded,” he said.
Mailey added that the department purchased and will distribute solar eclipse safety glasses for all inmates and prison staff “in the event they will be able to view the eclipse from their assigned work location or housing units.”
The inmates argued that although they come from varying backgrounds and hold different religious beliefs, “they have each expressed a sincerely held religious belief that April’s solar eclipse is a religious event that they must witness and reflect on to observe their faiths.”
Their attorney, Sharon Steinerman, issued the following statement in response to their victory:
“We are pleased that, in response to our lawsuit alleging religious discrimination, New York State has entered into a binding settlement agreement that will allow our six clients to view the solar eclipse in accordance with their sincerely held religious beliefs.”
The total solar eclipse will follow a path of totality across just 15 states on the eastern side of the United States, including much of western and upstate New York.
Between 3:15 and 3:30 p.m. that day, the moon will pass between the sun and the earth, blocking out all light for a few minutes for those in the zone of totality – which includes Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Watertown, Lake Placid, and Plattsburgh.
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