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Greying of Prison Inmates: An Economic and Social Disaster in the Making | JONATHAN TURLEY
The unintended consequences are an aging prison population. Perhaps the for-profit prisons did not count on that glitch in their bottom line. However, prisons at both the state and Federal level are finding themselves running geriatric nursing homes. In 2010, the last year for which we have accurate data, prisoners age 65 or over increased 94 times the rate of the total prison population in the three-year period 2007-2010. During that same three-year period, the total US prison population grew 0.7%.
At the rate we are going, by the year 2030, estimates are that almost a half-million prisoners will be elderly. Most prisons spend an absolute minimum on staffing and patient health. Private prisons find the elderly cutting into their profit margin. Problems not anticipated for younger prisoners are cropping up. What good does it do for a correctional officer to give orders to a prisoner with Alzheimer’s disease? Prisons are not designed for accommodating walkers, wheelchairs and those who may have serious age-related illnesses.
Sociologists have been studying the problem for some time, and find a multitude of reasons. One finding was that elected judges are under pressure to be “tough on crime” so they will be reelected. Drug laws are adding to the problem. Draconian sentencing guidelines, and parole boards refusing to release prisoners who are no longer a threat add to the problem. This news article has a lede photo worth seeing, with the caption that asks if the inmate shown is still a threat to society.
http://witnessla.com/death-penalty/2012/taylorwalker/elderly-prisoners-cost-states-double-evidence-lost-in-murder-case-and-more/
At America's Expense: The Mass Incarceration of the Elderly | American Civil Liberties Union
warehousing of aging prisoners for low-level crimes and longer sentences is a nefarious outgrowth of the “tough on crime” and “war on drugs” policies of the 1980s and 1990s. Given the nation’s current overincarceration epidemic and persistent economic crisis, lawmakers should consider implementing parole reforms to release those elderly prisoners who no longer pose sufficient safety threats to justify their continued incarceration.
State and federal governments spend approximately $77 billion annually to run our penal system. Over the last 25 years, state corrections spending grew by 674%, substantially outpacing the growth of other government spending, and becoming the fourth-largest category of state spending. These corrections costs are mainly spent on incarceration, and incarcerating aging prisoners costs far more than younger ones. specifically, this report finds that it costs $34,135 per year to house an average prisoner, but it costs $68,270 per year to house a prisoner age 50 and older. To put that number into context, the average
American household makes about $40,000 a year in income.
States can implement mechanisms to determine which aging prisoners pose little safety risk and can be released. Releasing many of these individuals will ease the burden on taxpayers and reunite prisoners with their families to care for them. This report conducts a fiscal impact analysis detailing the cost savings to states in releasing the average aging
prisoner. While some of these prisoners may turn to the government for their healthcare or other needs, government expenditures on released aging prisoners will be far cheaper than the costs of incarcerating them. Based on statistical analyses of available data, this report estimates that releasing an aging prisoner will save states, on average, $66,294 per year per prisoner, including healthcare, other public benefits, parole, and any housing costs or tax.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sHPlxqqAlk4]The Aging Prisoner Boom: Picturing Our Elderly Behind Bars - YouTube[/ame]
The unintended consequences are an aging prison population. Perhaps the for-profit prisons did not count on that glitch in their bottom line. However, prisons at both the state and Federal level are finding themselves running geriatric nursing homes. In 2010, the last year for which we have accurate data, prisoners age 65 or over increased 94 times the rate of the total prison population in the three-year period 2007-2010. During that same three-year period, the total US prison population grew 0.7%.
At the rate we are going, by the year 2030, estimates are that almost a half-million prisoners will be elderly. Most prisons spend an absolute minimum on staffing and patient health. Private prisons find the elderly cutting into their profit margin. Problems not anticipated for younger prisoners are cropping up. What good does it do for a correctional officer to give orders to a prisoner with Alzheimer’s disease? Prisons are not designed for accommodating walkers, wheelchairs and those who may have serious age-related illnesses.
Sociologists have been studying the problem for some time, and find a multitude of reasons. One finding was that elected judges are under pressure to be “tough on crime” so they will be reelected. Drug laws are adding to the problem. Draconian sentencing guidelines, and parole boards refusing to release prisoners who are no longer a threat add to the problem. This news article has a lede photo worth seeing, with the caption that asks if the inmate shown is still a threat to society.
http://witnessla.com/death-penalty/2012/taylorwalker/elderly-prisoners-cost-states-double-evidence-lost-in-murder-case-and-more/
At America's Expense: The Mass Incarceration of the Elderly | American Civil Liberties Union
warehousing of aging prisoners for low-level crimes and longer sentences is a nefarious outgrowth of the “tough on crime” and “war on drugs” policies of the 1980s and 1990s. Given the nation’s current overincarceration epidemic and persistent economic crisis, lawmakers should consider implementing parole reforms to release those elderly prisoners who no longer pose sufficient safety threats to justify their continued incarceration.
State and federal governments spend approximately $77 billion annually to run our penal system. Over the last 25 years, state corrections spending grew by 674%, substantially outpacing the growth of other government spending, and becoming the fourth-largest category of state spending. These corrections costs are mainly spent on incarceration, and incarcerating aging prisoners costs far more than younger ones. specifically, this report finds that it costs $34,135 per year to house an average prisoner, but it costs $68,270 per year to house a prisoner age 50 and older. To put that number into context, the average
American household makes about $40,000 a year in income.
States can implement mechanisms to determine which aging prisoners pose little safety risk and can be released. Releasing many of these individuals will ease the burden on taxpayers and reunite prisoners with their families to care for them. This report conducts a fiscal impact analysis detailing the cost savings to states in releasing the average aging
prisoner. While some of these prisoners may turn to the government for their healthcare or other needs, government expenditures on released aging prisoners will be far cheaper than the costs of incarcerating them. Based on statistical analyses of available data, this report estimates that releasing an aging prisoner will save states, on average, $66,294 per year per prisoner, including healthcare, other public benefits, parole, and any housing costs or tax.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=sHPlxqqAlk4]The Aging Prisoner Boom: Picturing Our Elderly Behind Bars - YouTube[/ame]
