At a recent HS Reunion I learned that one of my old classmates is serving a 60 year prison sentence in Texas. I can’t say I feel sorry for him and think he deserves every one of those years and then some (he molested 6 children and received 10 years for each count). Even so, the length of the sentence got me to thinking about what will happen to him when (if) he ever gets out of prison.
I don’t know exactly when he started serving his sentence but assuming he was about 25 years old and no parole that would mean he’d be released when he’s 85 years old! It seems cruel to release somebody who has spent his life in jail at that age - there is no way he could take care of himself, and no way he could afford any sort of care. What happens to people who are eligible to be released but too old and poor to take care of themselves?
On the other hand, lets suppose he gets paroled after 40 years so he’d be 65. At that age he is still young enough to be able to work but too old to have much chance at being hired for any sort of work. Do prisons help line up jobs for recent releases even if they are above the average age of working? At 65 he’s too old to create any sort of nest egg to live on after he can’t work any longer, what happens at that point?
Around here there’s a “residential hotel” just outside of downtown. Somehow it managed to be several thousand feet away from the nearest school, daycare center, etc. As a result, a lot of convicted sex offenders wind up there - it’s about the only place they can live that will actually rent to them.
If he ends up at the point where he can’t even manage to live in a one-room apartment, he’ll likely end up in a small room in a nursing home that accepts Medicaid.
I recall some news articles about prisons and aging prisoners. The cost of medical care escalates. It’s becoming a problem for the prisons. They just aren’t setup for elderly care. There’s pressure to release them and avoid the costs. Basically they are shifting the care problem back to the local communities.
Some percentage of them commit another crime and return to prison. Even at an advanced age it happens. A few may have family that provides for them. The rest will live off our tax dollars.
This will be a growing problem. Crime rates began a steep upward turn in the 70s, followed by increasing incarceration rates 80s, along with longer terms, and reduced opportunities for parole and early release. The number of prisoners over the age of 55 has been increasing this century, probably contributed to by the long term sentences from the prior decades. We;ve not only paid for the long term incarceration, but we’ll continue to pay for these people through the rest of their lives.
Yes, but that being “blind or disabled” is an important part. It’s hard enough for people with actual disorders to get on disability, let alone age-related ones. Seeing as I am on disablity, I should know.
You made the mistake of being disabled without commiting a serious crime first. You see, by managing to avoid a life of crime and punishment, you obviously still have resources available to you. I hope your disability doesn’t prevent you from commiting a serious crime that would entitle you to the benefits you need.
This may be a urban legend, but if I was informed correctly, there was a case in Spain back when “life” became “20 years”, of a man who was released in his late 60s, having been in prison since his 20s. A month later he was at the door of the prison asking them to take him in: he had no family, his friends were inside… they hired him as a gardener (which was the job he’d been doing for 40 years).
Well, this guy robbed a bank, gave the money ($80) back to the teller, waited for the cops, and then asked the judge for a three year sentence to cover him until he was eligible to receive social security. Judge complied.
In NY, we have an extensive pre-release program. We help prisoners who are due to be released make plans for what they will do on the outside. We assist them in contacting family members, making job inquiries, setting up residences, obtaining documentation they’ll need, setting up their health care, and if necessary putting them in contact with social services agencies.
They become telemarketers and third party collection agents, seriously they do.
Those are some of the very few places that will employ ex-cons. I am in a program that helps ex-felons find work (I am not an ex-felon and have never been in trouble with the law…but that’s another story how I got in :))
And every single lead they find for you and help you with involves cold calling, outbound telemarketing or working for a third party collector (that is someone who buys debts)
There are tax incentives for hiring ex-felons but they have to be qualified so self-study would be important.
A lot of the simply become recidivists because after 10 years or more people tend to become institutionalized, whether it’s prison or the military or school or whatever. After 10 years at a particular activity most people have trouble adjusting
Is it any different for “white collar” criminals? I’ve got a friend who’s serving 40 years for some creative accounting involving his clients and the IRS. Needless to say, his hosts don’t offer parole. I think he’ll be around 75 when they release him. I’ve often wondered what will happen to him at that point. Trying to imagine a 75 yr old today, who’s been locked up since 1970, gives me a picture of someone who doesn’t even know what a computer mouse is. How on earth could this person survive?