Older prisoners

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

In the U.S. corrections system, “older prisoners” usually means people who are 50 years old or older. Some places use 50 as the cut-off because not many prisoners reach 65 while in prison.

Why they age faster. Older prisoners may age faster than people outside because of long-term diseases and a history of drug or alcohol use.

Numbers to know. About 8.6% of all prisoners are age 50 or older, and the average age of this group is 57. As crime rates and sentences change, the number of older prisoners is going up.

Who these prisoners are. The race makeup of older prisoners is similar to that of younger prisoners. African Americans are overrepresented—about 5.5 times as many as whites in the prison population.

Health in prison. The kinds of diseases that people get in prison are similar to those outside, but older prisoners get them more often—about 25% more than people not in prison.

Mental health. Psychiatric issues, especially depression, are common among older prisoners and can have long-lasting effects.

Parole and release efforts. Some states are trying to help older prisoners get out sooner or use compassionate release.

Examples:
- New York in 2019: An Elder Parole bill would have started immediate parole interviews for people 55 and older who had served at least 15 years. It narrowly did not pass, but supporters plan to keep pushing.
- Maryland in 2020: The state planned to expand geriatric parole to about 265 inmates over 60 who have aging illnesses or related problems.