The problems surrounding the imprisonment of elderly offenders are examined. The key legal and policy challenges concerning older prisoners covered are:
- early and compassionate release;
- segregation or integration;
- the meaning of imprisonment in old age and its legal implications;
- fixed versus tailored sentences;
- and if prison is the right place to confine older offenders.
The authors conclude with a discussion of whether there is a need for “age specific” legal policy for older inmates.