Explain the concept of medical parole and discuss the pros and cons of releasing offenders due to medical conditions.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Medical parole, also known as compassionate release, is an option for some elderly prisoners or prisoners with terminal illnesses who are no longer viewed as a risk to public safety if released to the community. Due to the high costs of health care and the increased age of prisoners in America, there has been an increase in the discussion surrounding medical parole. To be eligible for medical parole, prisoners must have a medical condition that is terminal, that permanently limits them from movement, or that could be treated less expensively in a community treatment facility instead of a prison.Releasing terminally ill prisoners to a community hospice to live out their remaining days is not widely implemented despite arguments that show hospice care is an economic and humane treatment. The Bureau of Prisons found that 5 out of 142 federal inmates under compassionate release were rearrested within three years, representing a lower recidivism than that of the in the overall prisoner population. A similar low rate was reported in Oklahoma, where only 2 out of 135 medically paroled prisoners were rearrested (Savage, 2013).