At a prison I taught at, there was an old man, call him Mr. Carter. Every morning as I came into the prison he pushed a broom along the walkway. The way he walked I knew he was older – I should know, I’m a month short of 77.
One day I got talking with him. He told me he was nearing the end of a ten year bit, and they transferred him to a minimum prison. His only daughter called him and told him she was about to have a very serious operation the next day. Mr. Carter walked out of the prison the next morning and walked to the nearest city where he could catch a bus. But as he walked, he realized he’d made a mistake, so he turned around and walked back to the prison.
Did they thank him for returning? Did they take him to the hospital to see his daughter? Did they warn him not to do it again? None of those things. They added time to his sentence for escaping.
I think Mr. Carter could have made a case that he was worried and confused and should receive no punishment.
I’m wandering off the subject I want to talk about – the aging in prison. I think about myself – dependent on my family doctor and on prostate cancer specialists. Old people need doctors, but medical care in prisons is very second rate. Another inmate I know has to wait months to see a specialist. This is health care build on cost and on the availability of guards to take an inmate to a doctor.
I received an excellent website from a group in the States. It’s called Aging Behind 
Bars. I wanted to bring some of their data over to my website, but my technology failed me. Please take a look at their website. If clicking it doesn’t work, paste it into your browser.
http://www.criminaljusticedegreehub.com/geriatric-prisoners/
I don’t know what I can do about this problem. Any suggestions?
Images courtesy of:
Prison Uncensored - The Truth Behind the Bars 