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Six violent felons incarcerated in New York are suing for the right to view next week’s total solar eclipse despite a statewide prison lockdown, citing the “religious significance” of the event.
The inmates at Woodbourne Correctional Facility in Woodbourne – a Baptist, a Muslim, a Seventh-Day Adventist, two Santeria practitioners and one atheist – argue that barring them from viewing the astronomical spectacle would infringe upon their constitutional religious rights.
Each has “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,” according to the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of New York last Friday.
“A solar eclipse is a rare, natural phenomenon with great religious significance to many,” reads the lawsuit, which was filed against the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) and its top officials.
Haigh explained how meaningful the celestial event would be to him in an interview with news outlet Hell Gate: “It will be 20 years before another opportunity like this exists,” he said. “I don’t believe that just because I am incarcerated that I should be denied this opportunity, especially when this eclipse is scheduled to happen during normal outside recreation time.”
Baptist Travis Hudson holds similar sentiments about the significance of the eclipse, according to the lawsuit. He was convicted of first-degree course of sexual conduct with a child.
Two of the inmates named in the suit – Bruce Moses and Oscar Nuñez – practice Santeria, a faith mixing Catholicism and African traditions. Moses wishes to make a spiritual offering during the event, while Nuñez wishes to “pray and chant to the moon and the sun for blessings while they meet,” according to the complaint.
Moses was convicted of second-degree attempted assault, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and third-degree drug possession; Nuñez is incarcerated on second-degree attempted murder charges and has a prior conviction for first-degree robbery.
“Religious requests related to viewing the eclipse are currently under review.”
A full solar eclipse was last seen in the U.S. in 2017 – the next won’t be visible in the country again until 2044. All six inmates will be eligible for parole before 2029, according to state records.
A spokesperson for the DOCCS told Fox News Digital that the lockdown is intended to “ensure the safety” of prisoners and staff and that eclipse safety glasses will be distributed to all prisoners in the path of totality whose cells or assigned work locations would allow them to see the event from inside.
“Religious requests related to viewing the eclipse are currently under review,” the spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Attorneys with the New York State Office of the Attorney General and those representing the Woodbourne inmates could not immediately be reached for comment on the filing.
