The story of 72-year-old James Flowers, told in the Globe last week, underscores why Massachusetts needs to develop the kind of medical placement program that all but a few other states have. Flowers, a convicted murderer who has spent nearly 50 years in prison, suffers from end-stage dementia and has only months to live. He is mostly confined to a hospital bed without being able to move or talk. He could be safely transferred to the custody of his family.
About 30 other prisoners in the Massachusetts jail system are in a similar situation. Keeping such patients behind bars, even when they are minimally aware of their own condition, serves no rehabilitative or even punitive purpose. It’s illogical and, on the practical level, unnecessarily costly.
The toughening of criminal laws over time has led to an increase in the number of older prisoners, and older inmates cost about three to five times more than younger inmates in the United States. Most of the inmates approaching end of life pose a relatively low risk to the public because of their age and poor health. In fact, a 2012 report by the ACLU found low rates of recidivism among the elderly, including those convicted of violent offenses. Some are too ill even to remember their crimes, or no longer have the capacity to commit a crime. Last year, the Department of Justice recommended the compassionate release of dying inmates from federal prisons to save taxpayers’ money and reduce prison overcrowding.
A commission was established by the Legislature to study all available options to deal with ill, elderly inmates, and it is expected to file a report with recommended legislation no later than March 1. Granting ill or dying prisoners a release in medical placement will likely mean a cost savings to the state, which already spends $100 million a year in health care for inmates. (Release wouldn’t eliminate the cost to taxpayers but might reduce it; in a medical placement program, many of these inmates would be eligible for Medicaid or Medicare.)
Most other states allow prisoners to be released before the end of their sentence if they are terminally ill or have a medical condition that would require expensive treatment. Incarceration shouldn’t deprive inmates of basic needs, including good, compassionate care when they reach the end of life.