Pa. state prison populations growing old

There are a number of significant challenges currently to corrections work in general and detention ministry in particular. One is the growing number of older inmates. Mark Houser of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports on the case of 76 year old Marilyn Devine, convicted of bank robbery:

Across the country, prisons house more elderly inmates than ever before. Pennsylvania incarcerated a record 606 inmates ages 65 or older in 2006, up from fewer than 200 in 1990, according to the state Department of Corrections.

And with 5,500 inmates ages 50 to 64 -- baby boomers behind bars -- the state's prisons are set to grow even grayer in the next decade.

Cases such as Devine's bedevil legal experts and policy makers, who want to temper mercy with justice.

Raymond Devine, 79, said putting his wife behind bars "would be a disaster for both of us."

His wife pleaded guilty to using an unloaded pistol last year to rob a bank because her son threatened suicide unless she gave him money. The charges carry a maximum prison sentence of 34 years. Many, including members of a committee reviewing the state's policy on elderly prisoners, would like to see a suspended sentence. Others disagree:

Scott Thornsley, the Mansfield University of Pennsylvania criminal justice professor who headed the state committee, said Devine's age shouldn't entitle her to a "get out of jail free" card.

"I know full well that she could die in prison, and that's unfortunate. But we must have consequences," Thornsley said.

The consequences for aged inmates can be acute.

"Prisons primarily have always been built for younger inmates, for the sturdy and the strong, with concrete and steel. And now you're seeing inmates that are frail, in wheelchairs and in walkers, needing oxygen. Prisons really aren't prepared to deal with that, nor is society ready to pay for this cost," said Ronald Aday, a Middle Tennessee State University professor and author of "Aging Prisoners: Crisis in American Corrections."

A combination of factors is at work, Aday said. A growing senior population in society means more potential elderly criminals. Mandatory sentences and a waning use of medical parole keep old inmates in jail who in the past might have been released, Aday said.