ROUTINELY RELEASING ELDERLY OFFENDERS

Routinely Releasing Elderly Offenders On Medical Parole

Routinely Releasing Elderly Offenders On Medical Parole

The solutions for the increasing aging inmates problem could be faced with societal and economic barriers. Who will gain and who will lose from policy changes on the state and federal level. A possible hindrance for those who will be positively affected by a national policy is whether it will gain acceptance due to whom it will benefit. If these alternatives become more extensively employed one of the major public concerns will be whether inmates who are release pose a threat to society. Life course perspective helps us to see that once offenders reach a certain age many convicts no longer partake in criminal behavior.

And because current policies tend to be less tolerant of frequent offenders this will discourage the old from committing crimes that will place them back in the system. We must also recognize the difference between violent offenders and non-violent offenders, such as low-level drug dealers, who are less of a threat to society. A separation between these two groups is necessary. It will allow for separate punishment in the criminal justice system so that those who are not violent offenders can have the opportunity for early release.

Clearly, the mentioned resolutions to the aging inmate problems do not come without setbacks. The political economy theory helps us to understand why there is a slow government response on this issue. The initial price to fund some of these programs can be costly. For example, although over half of the U.S. states had introduced age segregated accommodation units for older prisoners they are more expensive to run Because of the prison rights (Estelle ruling of 1976), which placed a duty on prison authorities to meet the healthcare needs of prisoners, it ...