In this report, the Policy Advocacy Clinic (PAC) at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law and the California Coalition for Women Prisoners (CCWP) find that incarcerating elders in California’s women’s prisons is unjustified, costly, and inhumane. Releasing elders from its women’s prisons will help California begin to address the crisis of its rapidly aging prison population.

Key findings:

• Elders can be safely released. Elders present little risk to public safety once they are released from prison—data from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) indicates that fewer than five percent of people aged 60 and older go back to prison within three years of release. These rates are even lower for elders who have served lengthy sentences.
• Incarcerating elders is a costly and ineffective use of public funds. It costs two to three times more to incarcerate an elderly person compared to the general population. California could save $31 to $47 million per year by releasing everyone fifty years of age and older from its women’s prisons.
• Elders in women’s prisons face unique challenges that go unaddressed. The costs to their health are magnified by higher rates of pre-existing health conditions and extreme heat brought on by climate change. People incarcerated in women’s prisons experience high rates of trauma and intimate partner violence before incarceration. Inadequate, or in some cases abusive, health care in prison exacerbates conditions associated with aging, including symptoms of menopause.
• Existing options for elderly parole largely exclude and deny women over fifty. New analysis of data from the California Board of Parole Hearings showed that between 2013 and 2024, an average of just twelve people were granted elderly parole each year from the two women’s prisons combined.