'No Place for Old Men': Incarcerating the elderly

The rising number of elderly prisoners, the associated escalating health care costs, and the strange disconnect between incarcerating the elderly and the ostensible public safety goal of prison, are issues about which professionals in the field have long been aware but the public, for the most part, simply isn't aware. At the Texas Observer, Dick Reavis has a story titled "No Place for Old Men," which included this notable excerpt:

The state of Texas operates 109 prisons holding about 148,000 inmates. Some 27,000 of them are, like Alonzo, over the age of 50. They account for about 18 percent of the prison population, and are the fastest-growing demographic group among prisoners. By most estimates, they are also the most expensive to keep under lock and key. According to TDCJ spokesman Robert Hurst, the average cost of housing Texas inmates is about $20,000 a year, but medical and end-of-life expenses hike that figure to some $30,000 for elderly inmates. In other jurisdictions, the cost is even higher. A 2012 report from the ACLU calculates the average national expense for keeping a prisoner at $34,000 per year — and twice that much, $68,000, for inmates older than 50.

Both demographic factors and get-tough sentencing have transformed what were once mere penal institutions into hospitals, assisted living centers and nursing homes, too. The University of Texas Medical Branch operates a freestanding hospital in Galveston for TDCJ, which also contracts with UTMB and the Texas Tech medical school to send prisoners to 146 community hospitals. Texas prisons now boast of “respiratory isolation rooms,” “brace and limb services” and hospice facilities in which 90 Texas inmates were eased into eternity last year. More than 300 inmates in Texas prisons use wheelchairs, Dr. Murray says.

Lots of excellent detail and telling anecdotes in the story, Reavis did a great job capturing the dynamics of the issue.

MORE: See a new feature on related themes from The Atlantic.