Incarceration has been found to accelerate aging. Health problems stack on as a result of this stressful environment. Chronic and life-threatening illnesses are also more common inside prison. They tear down the body and mind, and the elderly population behind bars is increasingly vulnerable.
In 2022, there were 186,000 prisoners aged 55 or older. This number is growing as the arrest rate among the elderly rises. This is a direct result of the United States’ obsession with mass incarceration, an obsession that stands out from the rest of the world.
The U.S. justice system is exceptionally cruel. Louisiana alone has a higher incarceration rate than many other countries. And longer sentences are an increasingly normal punishment in the U.S. Why?
Tough-on-crime fears stoked by authorities have made extreme policing and absurd punishments the standard. But they shouldn’t be. What if we invested in community resources instead? This current system that imprisons the elderly is incapable of that.
This system is about punishment, not justice, because it favors mistreatment. Forcing people to suffer under terrible conditions in their old age without sufficient care is a terrible function of the criminal legal system that doesn’t make us safer.