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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsElderly Inmate Population Soared 1,300 Percent Since 1980s
Posted: 06/13/2012 6:43 pm Updated: 06/13/2012 7:30 pm
The population of aging and elderly prisoners in U.S. prisons exploded over the past three decades, with nearly 125,000 inmates aged 55 or older now behind bars, according to a report published Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union. This represents an increase of over 1,300 percent since the early 1980s.
More than $16 billion is spent annually by states and the federal government to incarcerate elderly prisoners, despite ample evidence that most prisoners over age 50 pose little or no threat to public safety, the report said. Due largely to higher health care costs, prisoners aged 50 and older cost around $68,000 a year to incarcerate, compared to $34,000 per year for the average prisoner.
Unless dramatic changes are made to sentencing and parole policies, the number of older prisoners could soar as high as 400,000 by 2030, posing a tremendous threat to state and federal budgets, said Inimai Chettiar, a co-author of the report.
"If we continue spending on prisons the way that we are, particularly on this aging population that's low risk, we're going to get to a place where states can't afford to spend on anything else," Chettiar said.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/13/elderly-inmate-population-soars_n_1594793.html?utm_hp_ref=crime
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Elderly Inmate Population Soared 1,300 Percent Since 1980s (Original Post)
Cali_Democrat
Jun 2012
OP
pscot
(21,024 posts)1. And they get free, single payer medical care
Turbineguy
(37,427 posts)2. They may be more profitable
to the prisons. And profit trumps public safety every time.
monmouth
(21,078 posts)3. Privately run jails are big business. The more the merrier..n/t
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)4. it's sad seeing those old hands in cuffs
Cali_Democrat
(30,439 posts)5. Here are some pics from the slideshow