National Commentary
Bill Cosby’s Sentence Highlights Nation’s Aging Prison Population

TriceEdneyWire.com
Bill Cosby’s sentence of three to 10 years after being convicted on three counts of sexual assault spotlights the growing number of elderly housed in the nation’s state and federal prisons.
Cosby, who is 81 and legally blind, was escorted by police on Monday from the Norristown, Pennsylvania, courthouse to begin serving his prison sentence at SCI Phoenix, a new state prison near Philadelphia, where the staff will assess his physical and medical needs.
“The day has come,” Judge Steven O’Neill told Cosby before sentencing him. “Your time has come.” Cosby was convicted of the 2004 drugging and sexual assault of Andrea Constand, a former Temple University women’s basketball coach.
Cosby’s sentence spotlights the nation’s aging prison population. In 2013, there were 131, 500 prisoners aged 55 or older. The nation’s total state-prison population is approximately 1.57 million.
Over the last 25 years, state corrections’ spending grew by 674% and the costs are mainly spent on incarcerating the elderly. Those costs are much higher than for younger inmates, according to several studies. “It costs $34, 135 per year to house an average prisoner but it costs $68, 270 per year to house a prisoner 50 and older.
Elderly prisoners face several challenges including hearing loss, dementia, cardiac disease, high blood pressure, and mobility issues. Prisons also must be retrofit spaces to accommodate the elderly, including installing ramps, shower handles and hiring nurses to care for the elderly.
“Prisons were never designed to be geriatric facilities,” reports Human Rights Watch. “Yet US corrections officials now operate old age homes behind bars.”
By Frederick H. Lowe
Special to the Trice Edney News Wire
from the NorthStarNewsToday.com

- Black History7 days ago
Part Two: BHM Series – Hattie Canty Activist, Union Leader
- Health1 week ago
February Is American Heart Month: “Go Red for Women” Luncheon To Raise Awareness; Award Four
- Black Business News6 days ago
NNPA Launches Education And Selective Buying Campaign
- Black History7 days ago
Trump & Black History Month
- Black Business News5 days ago
Hampton Roads Welcomes 2025 UNCF Mayors’ Masked Ball
- Local News in Virginia5 days ago
Virginia House Speaker Don Scott Forms Committee to Study Impact of Trump’s Cuts
- Hampton Roads Community News4 days ago
Black History Museum of Va. To Premiere Film Of Virginia Union Civil Rights Protesters
- Black Arts and Culture3 days ago
Norfolk Aspire Art Gallery Displays Local Shipyard Workers In New Photo Exhibition