ISMAEL IGARTUA got his first job, as a counsellor at a homeless shelter, when he was 55 years old. For the previous 29 years he was imprisoned on charges stemming from an incident during which he shot a police officer in the arm. In prison he earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s in theology.
After his release, Mr Igartua says he had to learn how to order food in a restaurant, and relearn how to cross a busy New York street. At least he had a family to return to. Many older ex-convicts do not: more than 70% of prisoners above the age of 50 released in New York went directly to a homeless shelter.
Between 1993 and 2013 America’s crime rate fell from around 52 crimes per 1,000 people to 23. At the same time, largely because of America’s penchant for handing out long sentences, the number of people over 55 in state prisons rose from 26,300 to 131,500, and their share of the total more than tripled. According to the Osborne Association, a New York-based non-profit, by...Continue reading
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