Michigan prisons plan 'normal operations,' no protective glasses, for Monday's eclipse

LANSING — Many Michigan prisoners are unaware of Monday’s solar eclipse and prison officials say they have no plans to issue protective eye gear for those who want to view it.

“They haven't said anything to us at all,” said Jack Bieri, a prisoner at Cotton Correctional Facility near Jackson, where Monday’s scheduled yard time for prisoners with his security level will coincide with peak eclipse viewing time.

In New York state, six prisoners filed a lawsuit March 29, seeking a court order allowing them to view the eclipse, after prison authorities ordered a statewide lockdown during peak viewing time, citing safety concerns.

In Michigan, “the MDOC plans on maintaining normal operations on Monday, with no expected changes to yard times at our facilities,” department spokesman Kyle Kaminski told the Free Press.

The department, which houses about 32,000 inmates at prisons around the state, "will not be issuing any special eye wear related to the eclipse," but plans to "share some basic information to the population this weekend," Kaminski said in a Wednesday email. That will include "advising that prisoners not attempt to directly view the eclipse, consistent with other publicly available guidance," he said.

Bieri, a "Level 2" prisoner at Cotton, said Monday's scheduled times when prisoners of his security level are permitted to be outside in the prison yard include 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., when the partial eclipse will be happening.

State prisoners have some access to news media, but it is more restricted than access for those who are not locked up. Bieri, who has on three occasions served as a prisoner's representative on the warden's forum, where prisoners can raise concerns with the prison administration, said Thursday he was unaware of Monday's eclipse.

Bieri thinks many other prisoners are also unaware of the eclipse, which in Michigan is expected to reach 90% to 99% coverage in most areas, with only a tiny sliver of the state experiencing a total eclipse. But he said if they knew about it, "they'd want to come out and check it out."

Looking directly at an eclipse without special protective eyewear can damage the retina.

That may have been among the safety concerns when New York's acting prison commissioner, Daniel Martuscello, ordered a statewide prison lockdown for 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, restricting prisoners to their cells, the New York Times reported.

The prisoners who have sued over the lockdown say the eclipse has religious significance and denying them the right to view it is unconstitutional.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on X, @paulegan4.