America's prison population has aged significantly, increasing the costs of incarceration. These four inmates show just some of the challenges older inmates bring.
Like the rest of America, the national prison population is growing older. Approximately 16 percent of prisoners today are over age 50; the number of inmates 55 and over increased nearly 1,400 percent from 1981 to 2012, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Thanks mostly to increased health-care expenses, states spend nearly twice as much on incarcerating older inmates as they do on average prisoners.
In December 2013, photographer Andrew Burton documented the lives of aging prisoners at several correctional facilities, including two prisons in California and one in Rhode Island. His photos and captions indicate some of the challenges states face in housing this special population of prisoners.
SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA - DECEMBER 19: (Editorial Use Only) Frank Fuller, age 66, stands alone in the prison yard during free time after breakfast at California Men's Colony prison on December 19, 2013 in San Luis Obispo, California. Fuller is helped through his daily life by the Gold Coats program, a volunteer care program where healthy prisoners care for elderly prisoners who either need general assistance with mobility and every day life or who also struggle with Alzheimer's and dementia. The program, the first of it's kind in the country, has existed for approximately 25 years. Fuller is serving a 35-years-to-life sentence; he has been incarcerated since 1990. He has been in the Gold Coats program for over six years. He says he is serving time for the murder of his third wife, who he says he shot with a rifle in a drunken rage after learning she had been having an affair with another man. He has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from serving five years in the Navy in the Vietnam War; he also has Hepatitis C. Fuller, who took shrapnel in his legs from a mortar round, says he held many different positions while fighting in Vietnam, including being a machine gunner; he says he still suffers occasional flash backs. He says has served one other sentence for murdering a man with a .45 caliber gun in a fight. Between Vietnam and prison, he says he worked in the oil fields and in manufacturing. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)
Andrew Burton/Getty Images
Frank Fuller, 66, stands alone in the prison yard during free time after breakfast at the California Men’s Colony prison in San Luis Obispo. In prison since 1990, Fuller received a sentence of 35 years to life for the murder of his third wife, who he says he shot with a rifle in a drunken rage after learning she had been having an affair with another man. A Vietnam War veteran who took shrapnel in his legs from a mortar round, Fuller served a previous prison sentence for murdering a man with a .45 caliber gun in a fight. Between Vietnam and prison, he worked in oil fields and in manufacturing.
CRANSTON, RI - DECEMBER 10: David Smith (his name has been changed at the request of the Rhode Island Department of Corrections, both to protect him and the identity of people and victims associated with his crime), a prisoner at Rhode Island's John J. Moran Medium Security Prison, watches television during free time from his bed on December 10, 2013 in Cranston, Rhode Island. Smith, who is 70, is currently six years into a 40 year sentence for attempted murder: this is his fifth time in state prison, he has also served two sentences in federal prison. Smith says prior to his most recent conviction he was working as a mechanic, though illness and financial issues eventually led to him trying to murder his brother's sister. He now suffers from a long list of medical problems including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bronchitis, diabetes and ulcers. His list of medications includes an oxygen tank, 13 pills taken on various daily and weekly schedules, two inhalers and daily insulin injections. Smith is one of the rare prisoners who gets a cell to himself, due to his medical condition .Of John J. Moran Medium Security prison's 1020 inmates, approximately 50 are 65 or older. 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 a 2012 Human Rights Watch report, between 1995 and 2010, the total number of state and federal prisoners increased by 42%, while the number of prisoners 55-and-older skyrocketed by 282% to 124,400 prisoners. The reasons for the dramatic rise in the elderly incarcerated date back to the 1970s through the 1990s, 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 growth in the prison populate - including the aging and elderly
Andrew Burton/Getty Images
David Smith is a prisoner at the John J. Moran Medium Security Prison in Cranston, R.I. Smith (his name has been changed at the request of the Rhode Island Department of Corrections), who is 70, is currently six years into a 40-year sentence for attempted murder. This is his fifth time in state prison; he has also served two sentences in federal prison. He suffers from a long list of medical problems, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bronchitis, diabetes and ulcers. His list of medications includes an oxygen tank, 13 pills taken on various daily and weekly schedules, two inhalers, and daily insulin injections.
VACAVILLE, CA - DECEMBER 16: (Editorial Use Only) George Whitfield, age 56, works with a physical therapist 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)
Andrew Burton/Getty Images
George Whitfield, 56, works with a physical therapist at California State Prison, Solano, in the city of Vacaville. 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. His previous three sentences, dating back to 1989, were allegedly for possession of marijuana, which Whitfield 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.
VACAVILLE, CA - DECEMBER 17: (Editorial Use Only) Ronald Collins, age 60, a hospice care patient, gets his hair cut in the hospice care wing of California Medical Facility (CMF) on December 17, 2013 in Vacaville, California. While California has a compasionate release program for terminal patients in the last six months of life, the decision is ultimately made by judges, who frequently deny the request. CMF's hospice was the first of it's kind, originally created in the 1980s during the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The program currently holds 17 beds. When a patient arrives in CMF's hospice, doctors immediately apply for compassionate release. As of June 2013, California had 133,000 prisoners, of which 15,000 were over the age of 55. The U.S. incarcerates more people than any other country in the world, and as of 2010 the national prison population was 2.26 million people. According to Human Rights Watch, between 1995 and 2010 the total number of state and federal prisoners incresased by 42%, while the number of prisoners 55-and-older skyrocketed by 282%. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)
Andrew Burton/Getty Images
Ronald Collins, 60, a hospice care patient, gets a haircut in the hospice care wing of the California Medical Facility (CMF) in Vacaville. While California has a compassionate release program for terminal patients in the last six months of life, the decision is ultimately made by judges, who frequently deny the request. CMF’s hospice program was the first of its kind, originally created in the 1980s during the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The program currently holds 17 beds. When a patient arrives in CMF’s hospice, doctors immediately apply for compassionate release.
