The percent of senior inmates incarcerated in federal prisons will continue to rise unless there is a systemic solution to this systemic reality. We have an egregious number of nonviolent citizens who have received sentences of life without parole as a result of the war on drugs. As they continue to age, they will become a larger percent of the prison population.
In order for these inmates to receive sentencing relief, we must have commutations, compassionate release and/or retroactive legislation. Unless commutation efforts begin to make remarkable headway, this endeavor will not make a significant dent in this specific prison population.
A more universal approach would seem to be necessary. Besides being fiscally irresponsible, continued incarceration of these nonviolent elderly men and women is not compatible with our sense fairness and punishment that fits the crime.
We need to have clemency like that granted by President Ford and Carter when they granted clemency to those who violated the Selective Service Act. Other Presidents have used similar methods for systemic relief. There are many templates that could be used by the President and Congress to make this happen.
When the United States incarcerated at a rate of 7 times that of any other developed nation, it should be a red flag warning citizens that we have lost our way on the road to freedom.
Beth Curtis, MSW
http://www.lifeforpot.com
![VACAVILLE, CA - DECEMBER 16: (Editorial Use Only) George Whitfield (sitting), age 56, waits in line to receive his daily blood pressure at California State Prison, Solano, on December 16, 2013 in Vacaville, California. This is Whitfield’s fourth time in prison - his current sentence is six years. He was sentenced for possession of narcotics with intent to sell and an illegal firearm. Whitfield denies the charges, saying police searched his house without presenting a warrant and only found marijuana that he used personally and a firearm he kept in his home. His previous three sentences, dating back to 1989, were allegedly for possession of marijuana, which he says he has only used recreationally. According to Whitfield, he suffered a stroke in 2007, which now forces him to use a walker. He also suffers from high blood pressure and has recently experienced numbness in his left arm. While Whitfield believes the prison officials at Solano are “fair, they’re only doing their job,” he also laments, “they should have sent me to rehab...they’re not trying to save my life, they’re trying to ruin it.” He continued, “I believe in second chances, I would love to see [some of my fellow inmates] go home - they don’t belong in here. This is overkill....we’re still human.” As of June 2013, the state of California had 133,000 prisoners, of which approximately 15,000 were over the age of 55. According to a 2012 Human Rights Watch Report, “incarcerated men and women typically have physiological and mental health conditions that are associated with people at least a decade older in the community. The U.S. incarcerates more people than any other country, with the number of inmates increasing 42 percent between 1995 and 2010, according to Human Rights Watch, and the number of prisoners 55-and-older skyrocketing by 282 percent. The increases are blamed on the ‘tough on crime’ and the ‘war on drugs’ policies enacted in the 1970s through the 1990s. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)](https://d1n0c1ufntxbvh.cloudfront.net/photo/d1024467/7096/740x/)