Six inmates at a New York prison filed a lawsuit against the state corrections department for implementing a lockdown the evening of the April 8 solar eclipse.
The lockdown, which will take place across 23 state prisons in the path of totality, is a violation of the six inmates’ religious freedom to be unable to partake in a religious event, the March 29 complaint says.
“A solar eclipse is a rare, natural phenomenon with great religious significance to many,” according to the complaint.
The six men being held at the Woodbourne Correctional Facility claim that they are a Baptist, a Seventh-day Adventist, a Muslim, an atheist, and two allege they are practitioners of Santeria.
The lockdown was implemented to prevent security breaches, and inmates will remain in their housing units from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., the Daily
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