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If You Think Getting Old Is Hard, Try Doing It in Prison

In the opening episode of The News Room, the character Will McAvoy goes on a tirade, ultimately declaring that the only thing America is #1 at is putting people in prison. It’s fiction, and the scene is intentionally hyperbolic and inflammatory, but the reality is, the War on Drugs put a lot of people in jail for a very long time. And no matter what your politics, the truth is also that we as a society are bearing the costs as inmates age. In 2010 there were nearly a quarter of a million elderly in prison, and the Federal healthcare costs alone were over $1 billion. The Washington Post provides a very detailed article for those who want to dig deeper.

Prisoner