Parole For The Elderly
Parole For The Elderly
CJHS/430
Evelyn Diaz
12/08/14
Tina Sebring
Paroling the elderly and sick could be the best way to deal with the cost and overcrowding of he prisons. There is a large number of inmates who are elderly and have served half their sentence or more. Even though this is a good idea there are many factors that need to be taken into consideration. The most important of these factors is community safety. In this paper, we will discuss the arguments for and against keeping sick and older adult prisoners in jail.
With the rising cost of medical care for the more elderly and chronically ill in the prison system the state has to find a way to bring down costs. One of the ways they are trying to accomplish this is by reviewing and modifying the Compassionate Release Law. Through this law, prisoners are considered for early release or modification of sentence because of age and or illness. Wisconsin is one of the many states that is suffering from financial constraints of maintaining its prison population. Wisconsin's inmate population increased by 14 percent from 2000 to 2007 and the State Corrections budget rose by 71 percent from 1999 to 2005. Health care costs for adult prisoners in Wisconsin rose from $2.8.5 million to $87.6 million from 1898 to 2005. It estimates that the cost of providing medical care for older prisoners will to $25 billion from 2009 to 2019 (O’Meara. 2010). These rising costs are calling for a reviewing by Wisconsin and other states of the correctional system's early release programs for the elderly and ill inmates. One of the reasons for this reconsideration is a change in the standards of compassionate release law for prisoners in state correctional facilities. The new change expands the category of eligibility for sentence modification and streamlines the procedure. Much-reviewing needs to be done in regards to this law.
To many it may sound like this is the best solution to bring down costs of correctional
CJHS/430
Evelyn Diaz
12/08/14
Tina Sebring
Paroling the elderly and sick could be the best way to deal with the cost and overcrowding of he prisons. There is a large number of inmates who are elderly and have served half their sentence or more. Even though this is a good idea there are many factors that need to be taken into consideration. The most important of these factors is community safety. In this paper, we will discuss the arguments for and against keeping sick and older adult prisoners in jail.
With the rising cost of medical care for the more elderly and chronically ill in the prison system the state has to find a way to bring down costs. One of the ways they are trying to accomplish this is by reviewing and modifying the Compassionate Release Law. Through this law, prisoners are considered for early release or modification of sentence because of age and or illness. Wisconsin is one of the many states that is suffering from financial constraints of maintaining its prison population. Wisconsin's inmate population increased by 14 percent from 2000 to 2007 and the State Corrections budget rose by 71 percent from 1999 to 2005. Health care costs for adult prisoners in Wisconsin rose from $2.8.5 million to $87.6 million from 1898 to 2005. It estimates that the cost of providing medical care for older prisoners will to $25 billion from 2009 to 2019 (O’Meara. 2010). These rising costs are calling for a reviewing by Wisconsin and other states of the correctional system's early release programs for the elderly and ill inmates. One of the reasons for this reconsideration is a change in the standards of compassionate release law for prisoners in state correctional facilities. The new change expands the category of eligibility for sentence modification and streamlines the procedure. Much-reviewing needs to be done in regards to this law.
To many it may sound like this is the best solution to bring down costs of correctional
References: O’Meara G. J., 2010 Compassion and the Public Interest: Wisconsin 's New Compassionate Release Legislation, Retrieved from Week 5 Federal Reserve Reading http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/docview/757687257/fulltextPDF?accountid=35812