In
my Correctional Institutions class we just finished covering the section on
special populations, and one special population really had me fascinated. The
elderly prison population is not the first population we generally think of
when we think about prisons. This population is rarely shown on TV shows such
as Lockup Raw, rather, gang populations and individuals in Administrative Segregation
are usually shown because these are the exciting inmates to watch. Many people
are not cognizant about the large and problematic elderly prison population and
the burden they place on the state and prison staff. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fs_oXUM3pA
It
is no secret that as one grows older, one’s body and mind start to fail, that
is just how our bodies work. Inmates generally age faster than those outside of
prison because of the constant stress they have to endure and the close
proximity to others that generates disease. As taxpayers to the state, we are
the ones that must front the bill of elderly inmate’s medical bills. These can
be quite astronomical because cancer, Alzheimer’s, and heart disease are not
limited to individuals on the outside. Take a second to process these
statistics; it costs around $24,000, on average to house a younger offender,
while the average for housing an elderly offender per year is around $72,000
(TheCrimeReport). These individuals are certainly a huge burden on the state
and taxpayers.
I
am not saying many of these elderly offenders do not need to be punished for
the crimes they have committed, but at what cost? Or does monetary value really
mean anything when one is out for retribution and punishment? At age 55, one is
considered to be elderly in prison; with that in mind, in 2007, there were
around 89,000 elderly offenders in the prison system (healthjournalism). Just
like America’s regular population, prison’s population is too growing older.
Elderly inmates are more at risk of victimization than their younger
counterparts. Victimization could be through violence, intimidation, and being
taken advantage of in monetary ways.
Many
of you probably do not know who Bill Heirens, Chicago’s “Lipstick Killer,” (as seen above) is but he is currently Illinois’ longest serving offender and has been serving in
prison since he was 17 years old. Heirens is currently 83 years old and suffers
from severe diabetes and early signs of dementia. The state pays around $73,000
a year to house Bill which includes treatment for his ailments, food, and housing
(prisonterminal). The question I have is, why are we spending this astronomical
amount of money to imprison someone who is clearly not of any danger to society?
A simple answer would be America’s lust for punishment and retribution for
anyone who has wronged society. What this man did is inexcusable and truly
heinous, but with a state already in an enormous amount of debt, how can we
afford to house harmless offenders such as Bill Heirens?
The
elderly population is a very real problem from a managerial and security
standpoint for the prison system. The elderly cost taxpayers an enormous amount
of money each year, mainly through medical costs, yet they are almost an “invisible”
population for those not familiar with prisons. I am not denying these
individuals need to be punished, but at some point we must know when to
say enough is enough, you have repaid your debt to society.
This is a very interesting article. I agree that medical issues of the elderly in prison are a huge financial problem. I think that it is sad to see this older population become victims in prison because of their diminished mental and physical state. I think you bring up a good point about keeping people such as 83 year old Bill Heirens in prison. Why should we keep someone in prison and pay huge amounts of money when at this point in their life they pose little to no risk to society. I think at some point we have to look past policy and start using common sense to solve some of the problems with our criminal justice system.
ReplyDeleteI think your blog is incredibly interesting. I never really put much thought into elderly inmates and the additional cost they would produce. I agree with the man in the video, I don’t think that the healthy elderly should be released early. Recently I took a tour of Pekin Federal Correctional Institution. While we were there we got to see the recreational area complete with a track. The correctional officers told us that every day at 55 or so years old he runs a good 6 miles a day and on Saturdays he doubles it! Clearly he is capable and healthy to stay in prison! However, the ones who are in wheelchairs, or on breathing machines, or the ones who can’t take two steps with out needing assistance, may not be as big of a threat. Another option, other then incarceration, would be house arrest or an electronic monitoring device. This option would save about $190 on average daily. I agree that this is one of the many problems with our criminal justice system that needs to be looked at more closely.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of inmates I don’t tend to think of the elderly. Along with that I never really thought of the cost for an inmate at that age. I found out a lot of information by reading your blog and watching the video. It does make sense that the elderly may need more health care needs compared to someone who is younger. Seeing the cost to house an elderly and seeing what the age is considered to be elderly are both very shocking. Knowing that, should we let the elderly go or should they stay in prison and cause the tax payers to pay three times just for an inmate? I always thought that people should stick with their sentence and that’s all. I feel I am still on the fence about letting the elderly get out early. They do deserve to get the care that they need, but then again at what cost? Then again, how much damage could really be done if they are released? If they are released maybe they can be on house arrest or another way instead of incarceration. Another idea is to think about the victims and if they will be impacted. They might not be happy if these offenders are released early just due to their age. I may never really have a definitive answer for this, but it is a great debate.
ReplyDeleteIt is very sad to see elderly people withering away to nothing in a prison cell, but lets not forget the very reasons why they are in prison. They made a conscious decision to disobey the law and now no matter how old they are they still need to face the consequences and finish out their term. Bill Heirens killed 3 people and one of which was a 6 yr old child who's body he dismembered. He is a viscous, sick individual who may not be a risk to society by not being able to physically do harm to anyone again, but I don't think that is enough reason to let him out and go free. I would find it very hard to deal with that had it been my child who was killed and dismembered at his hands. Either way whether he is in prison or free and living in society somewhere, chances are he would still be living off the government and we as tax payers would still be footing the bill for his medical issues. I say keep him in there where he belongs.
ReplyDeleteJory, I am also in this correctioonal institutions class and this was a very fun post to read. I find it interesting that we pay so much, nearly three times as much money to house an 'elderly' inmate as compared to a general population inmate. The line has to be drawn somewhere, becasue as we all know overcrowding is rampant and some space needs to be alliviated. One would think that after serving some 50 odd years in prison that a return to the community would be shaky, but obviously the offender is far less likely to recidivate. Take for example the movie Shawshank Redemption. Brooks as we all know became 'institutionalized' after being in the prison for all that time. Granted we don't want every 85 year old man killing themselves when they get out, but its kind of a double edge sword. What more do these elderly people have to do in life. I also agree with you that for entertainment purpose the media only show the 'fun to watch' inmate populations on tv shows. Just another notion of how the media strays away form the real aspects in criminal justice. Bottom line is that something has to be done about the growing old prison population. Space needs to be cleared and money will be saved if we start implementing some type of release program for the elderly in prison who clearly no longer a dnager to society.
ReplyDeleteI also don’t think of the elderly people when I think of people inside prisons. I tend to think of angry men. Both women and elderly people cost the tax payers a great deal of money. Both of them need a lot of medical needs. I also agree that elderly people should be released if they are no longer a threat to society. The prisons are already overpopulated so there shouldn’t be a need to keep the elderly in the prison system if they are no longer a threat to society. However, I do understand that there are some elderly people that do deserve to stay inside the institution. I feel that if an elderly person is about to die they should be sent home to die at their own homes. This particular process would also be cheaper on the institution.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting post. I had never given much thought to the elderly prison population and the cost of this population. It is astronomical, but I don't really think that there is anything we can do about it. I don't really think that we can just let someone out of prison just because they are old, and I think that the government would probably still be paying for their care anyway. Since this person has been in prison, he or she has probably not had a job and has no money to pay for medical bills, so it would probably fall to the government anyway. Also, I think that letting the elderly out would greatly undermine the point of giving someone a life sentence. These people have committed crimes and need to be held accountable. What we could do is come up with some sort of prisoner nursing home. Instead of having to spread out the resources necessary to deal with the elderly to each prison with an older person, we could contain them to one facility and that may cost less. It would also reduce the chance of them being taken advantage of by younger inmates.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this post as well jory! I was surprised that the difference in cost/inmate was $48,000 higher! Also the number of inmates over 55 is about what i thought it would be. I had heard from when i took that class about the elderly in jail, but was mainly focused on the monetary hit suffered. I didn't really focus on them being victimized while Inside the prison. That was a good point you brought up. I agree that we need to take them out and maybe start to build homes that are more monitored than nursing homes, just like we do with juveniles. It is also discouraging that all we as a society focus on is the money for everything! That story of Bill proves it exactly! We should focus on Helping people, not solely minimizing cost!
ReplyDeleteI love this blog good read for me! I have to totally agree with you this guy you mentioned has early stages of dementia. The purpose of the system is to punish and how in the world are we considering this punishment to a man who is beginning to forgot what he did? This seems like more of a cruel and unusual punishment to me. Older population when they have diseases that impair them they should no longer be in they system. I could understand maybe probation of some sort,but not staying in prison.
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