In March, a statewide memorandum was sent out to all DOCCS facilities across the state and said prisoners will not see the eclipse, the DOCCS told Inside Edition Digital earlier in the week.
The six inmates who filed a lawsuit against the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) because they were not going to be allowed to see Monday’s solar eclipse have been granted permission to view the astrological event, their attorney tells Inside Edition Digital.
“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," attorney Christopher L. McArdle tells Inside Edition Digital in a statement.
The six plaintiffs are inmates at Woodbourne Correctional Facility. They include a Muslim, a Baptist, a Seventh-Day Adventist, two Santeria practitioners and an atheist, according to the Times Union.
In March, a statewide memorandum was sent out to all DOCCS facilities across the state and said prisoners will not see the eclipse, the DOCCS told Inside Edition Digital earlier in the week.
"The Department has agreed to permit the six individuals to view the eclipse, while plaintiffs’ Counsel’s firm has agreed to dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice as to the six named individuals, among other things. The lawsuit came to an appropriate resolution," the DOCCS said in a statement to Inside Edition Digital.
The DOCCS made its decision to allow the inmates to view the eclipse after "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."
The eclipse is set to take place on Monday. It will cross from Texas to Maine. More than 30 million people will be in the path of totality. A partial eclipse will be briefly visible briefly for millions more.
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