Older Inmates

By Lori Gonzalez, Ph.D. (2021) The U.S. prison population is aging- raising questions about just deserts and containing costs associated with housing older people. Those who are 55 and older have become the fastest growing segment of the U.S. prison population, growing 280 percent between 1999 and 2016 and projected to make up 1/3 of […]

Abstract Despite the strong relationship between the rise in mass incarceration over the last forty years and racial inequality in employment and wages, few studies have examined the long-term consequences and spillover effects of criminal justice contact on the black-white wealth gap in the United States. In this paper, we investigate the mechanisms whereby the […]

MY patient, a man in his 60s, whispered “Gracias, God bless” over and over as I moved his legs during an exam. Our palliative care team had been called in to help manage his pain after his liver cancer recurred. The cancer had already metastasized to his spine, creating pressure on his spinal cord that […]

Sholonda Jackson has been circling downtown San Francisco in search of a parking place for more than an hour, but her tone is still upbeat as she talks about the day’s errand – filing out the paperwork to get the last of her three felony convictions reduced to a misdemeanor. Addicted to drugs since her […]

A survey of families that have a member in jail or prison has found that nearly two-thirds struggle to meet their basic needs, including 50 percent that are unable to afford sufficient food and adequate housing. The report found that costs associated with incarceration, like traveling for prison visits, had pushed more than one-third of […]