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California struggling with growing numbers of elderly prisoners
VACAVILLE –
Tougher sentences are causing an unusual problem in state prisons – a
steep and costly rise in elderly inmates. The number of
inmates 55 and older has nearly tripled in a dozen years to 5,800,
comprising 4 percent of the prison population. Prisoners are
aging as the state reduces parole and increases sentences, notably through
the "three strikes" law that makes repeat offenders eligible for
terms of 25 years to life. Studies show
older inmates are less violent and dangerous, while housing them may cost
three times as much as the price of housing younger inmates. Health care
is a major cost. Last year, the state spent $676 million on inmate medical
care, nearly twice the figure of seven years ago. Officials can't say how
much of that went for elderly patients but conceded they are more likely
to require expensive care for problems such as cancer and dementia. Ernest
Pendergrass, 79, serving a life sentence at the Vacaville prison, has
survived four types of cancer and a stroke. His daughter, a pharmacist,
estimated that his 12 daily pills run $1,800 a month. Although
California has the nation's largest and most expensive penal system, with
33 lockups, it does not have a general rule for the handling of elderly
inmates, who are mixed in with the regular prison population. It has not
followed other states such as Louisiana, North Carolina and Ohio in
providing special units or entire prisons for the elderly. The state did
pioneer the concept in 1954 but that prison was later closed. Youth and
Adult Correctional Secretary Robert Presley said change is
"overdue" in how to handle the geriatric population. He told the
Los Angeles Times for a story Sunday that he wants to put old inmates in
one prison. "We're
not talking about mollycoddling prisoners," said Jonathan Turley, law
professor and founder of the Project for Older Prisoners, a national
advocacy group that has advised the New York and Illinois penal systems,
among others. "It's a matter of realizing your population is not
homogenous and taking steps that can save a lot of money." In addition
to being costlier, elderly prisoners can be victims of younger, more
aggressive cons, he argued. "We all
know grandparents who complain they're afraid to walk at night because of
crime," Turley said. "Imagine being a geriatric in a
neighborhood where everyone is certifiably violent." Another
option, freeing old inmates, repeatedly has failed to win support. Assemblyman
John Longville, D-Rialto, sponsored a 1999 bill to shift some inmates over
60 to nursing centers or home detention. It died in the Assembly. "A lot
of people around here have no interest in letting anybody out of
prison," Longville said. "It's almost a religious thing. It's
certainly not a pragmatic approach." Assemblyman
Rod Pacheco, R-Riverside, opposed the measure. He argued that it might
have allowed leniency for convicts such as Sirhan Sirhan, 58, serving a
life term for assassinating Sen. Robert F. Kennedy. "The
thought that when someone reaches a certain age it excuses their previous
criminal conduct is anathema to me," Pacheco said. "It's wrong
morally." National
studies show that only about 2 percent of men paroled after 55 return to
prison. "So the
costs of imprisonment go way up at the same time the benefits of
imprisonment, in terms of public safety, go way down," said Franklin
Zimring, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, law
school. FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Action on Aging distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
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