Final answer:
The risks associated with prison include health concerns for the aging population, the spread of infectious diseases like COVID-19, and increased healthcare costs. These factors raise ethical questions and highlight the financial burdens of an aging prison population.
Step-by-step explanation:
The risks associated with prison involve several factors, particularly for the elderly prison population. As individuals age, they often face a variety of health concerns, including failing vision, limited mobility, impaired hearing, and chronic illnesses such as heart disease, arthritis, and diabetes. These issues complicate their stay in prison, raising ethical questions about the utility and morality of incarcerating the elderly, especially if they are physically incapable of committing crimes anymore.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, these issues were intensified. Prisons are environments with confined spaces and limited freedom, where individuals share cells and facilities, making it difficult to contain infectious diseases. The aging demographic within prisons, with nearly 200,000 individuals aged 55 and over, faced significant risks due to their vulnerability to severe complications from COVID-19.
Aside from health risks, there are significant financial concerns with accommodating elderly inmates, who often require more healthcare services. This leads to increased prison budgets and expenditures. With many elderly prisoners serving life sentences due to tough-on-crime policies from the past, some argue for the early release of these individuals, who typically pose a lower risk to society and could lead to substantial cost savings in the criminal justice system.