California’s prison population is aging, and caring for the oldest inmates is expensive. That has the state weighing whether to release more of them. A state committee took up the question this week.
The Committee on Revision of the Penal Code recommends changes to California’s criminal laws. This week it met inside the California Institution for Men in Chino. The prison’s chief medical executive, Doctor Muhammad Farooq.
“Back in 2012 we started from 11% of the patients above the age of 55," said Dr. Farooq. "So, 55 is the key as we get to that age, we start to see more medical issues. That increased to 21% end of last year.”
Aging also drives up the cost of care. It runs about $30,000 a year for inmates under 30, and nearly a quarter million for those over 80. The cost is fueling a push to release more aging inmates, who advocates say rarely commit new crimes.
Gunnar Johnson was the victim of a violent crime, and his friend was murdered.
“Our losses have taught us that accountability and rehabilitation are not mutually exclusive," Johnson said, "and that a person’s worst act does not have to define the entirety of their life.”
Committee chair Mike Romano noted how politically charged the issue of elderly parole has become, and said the longest-serving inmates are often those who committed the gravest crimes.
“There are real victims out here," added Romano. "This isn’t shoplifting from Target.”
At the same time, lawmakers are tightening the rules for the most serious crimes. A new state law bars sex offenders from elderly parole unless they are 65 and have served 25 years of their sentence.
The committee will make its recommendations to lawmakers later this year.