The Jailed Elderly

The United States incarcerates more people than any other country in the world - as of 2010 the national prison population was approximately 2.26 million people. According to Human Rights Watch, between 1995 and 2010, the total number of state and federal prisoners increased by 42% while the number of prisoners 55-and-old skyrocketed by 282%.

The reasons for the dramatic rise in the elderly incarcerated date back to the 1970s, when “tough on crime” policies were enacted and the “war on drugs” was declared. Since then, mandatory-minimum sentencing, three-strike laws and life-without-parole have become popular techniques to keep those in prison behind bars, causing a rapid growthin the prison population, including the aging and elderly, even though national crime rates have declined.

Between 1984 and 2008, the number of prisoners serving life sentences more than quadrupled to 140,000, according to The Sentencing Project. This project explores the elderly and end-of-life in prison.