At America’s expense: The mass incarceration of the elderly

Report | Aging prisoners | Corrections costs | Lifers | Sentencing | Parole | June 2012

By the American Civil Liberties Union

The United states is the largest incarcerator in the world, with 2.3 million people behind bars. Prisoners across the country are also getting older and experiencing all the same ailments that afflict those of the same age who are not behind bars. Our extreme sentencing policies and a growing number of life sentences have effectively turned many of our correctional facilities into veritable nursing homes—and taxpayers are paying for it.

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