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Elderly

A Polaroid is on a black table. It shows Armando Navejas, a medium light-skinned man with a mustache, standing with his wife Josephine, a medium light-skinned woman.
Feature November 22, 2022
As Police Arrest More Seniors, Those With Dementia Face Deadly Consequences
Many cities are changing how they respond to mental health calls, but less attention has been paid to the unique risks for people with Alzheimer’s and other brain diseases.
By
On March 19, 2021, hundreds of people packed into Union Square during an Asian American Federation peace vigil following the shootings in Atlanta.
News April 20, 2021
NYPD Hate Crime Data Fails to Capture Harassment Against Asians 65 or Over
“There is a whole wave of attacking elderly people in different ways," one New York legislator says.
By CHRISTINE CHUNG, THE CITY, and
A courtroom sketch depicts James “Whitey” Bulger, center, during a pretrial conference before U.S. District Judge Denise Casper, left rear, in a federal courtroom in Boston Monday, June 3, 2013. Bulger is flanked by his attorneys Henry Brennan, left, and J.W. Carney Jr., standing at right. Jury selection begins Tuesday for Bulger’s trial. (AP Photo/Jane Flavell Collins)
Life Inside March 17, 2016
My Memories of Being in Prison with Whitey Bulger
Tales of the “pale, white-haired, geezer in a wheelchair.”
By Nate A. Lindell
SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA - DECEMBER 19: (Editorial Use Only) Frank Fuller, age 66, walks back to his prison cell after taking medication 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)
News August 27, 2015
When Prisons Need to Be More Like Nursing Homes
Finding new ways to treat the growing pool of older, ailing inmates.
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Justice Lab August 24, 2015
Do You Age Faster in Prison?
Science tries to catch up with the problem of ‘accelerated aging.’
By
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)
News May 7, 2015
Older Prisoners, Higher Costs
A tough, new report says it’s time for federal prisons to release the elderly and infirm.
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SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA - DECEMBER 19: (Editorial Use Only) Anthony Alvarez (L), age 82, waits for the daily prisoner count while sitting on the floor of his cell at California Men’s Colony prison on December 19, 2013 in San Luis Obispo, California. Alvarez is helped by the Gold Coats, a volunteer care program where healthy prisoners volunteer to take care of 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. According to Alvarez, he has been incarcerated for 42 years due to a series of burglaries, possession of illegal firearms and escapes from county jail. Eventually these convictions led to him getting a life sentence due to three-strike laws. “I never shot anyone,” Alvarez said, “I had the chance but I could never shoot anyone.” Today is Alvarez’s first day being assisted by the Gold Coats; he largely needs help with mobility. Alvarez tries to work out for a few minutes every other day. He says he would like to apply for compassionate release, a program where prisoners are released from prison after being found no longer a threat to society, or if a doctor deems that they are within the last six months of their life. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)
Justice Lab March 20, 2015
Too Old to Commit Crime?
Why people age out of crime, and what it could mean for how long we put them away.
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