Hundreds of elderly women in California prisons remain in inhumane and costly conditions due to inadequate consideration by the Board of Parole Hearings, despite laws passed to address the issue.
New York State spent a record $450.6 million on prison healthcare in 2025, despite the aging incarcerated population driving these costs reoffending at some of the lowest rates in the system and being denied parole at increasing rates, prompting the Release Aging People in Prison Campaign to call for the passage of the Elder Parole and Fair & Timely Parole bills.
Proposition 57, passed in 2016, was intended to reduce overcrowding in California prisons and incentivize rehabilitation, but was later limited by the California Court of Appeals, causing concern among criminal justice reform advocates.
Restorative justice programs and other alternatives to incarceration can help prevent harm and promote healing, while keeping communities safe and reducing mass incarceration.