Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Mass. hearing spotlights push to expand medical and elder parole amid inmate aging crisis
Summary
Supporters at a joint public-safety hearing urged the Legislature to speed and broaden medical and elder parole for elderly, terminally ill and permanently incapacitated incarcerated people, citing costly in‑custody care, examples of long-term wrongful incarceration and high denial rates under current rules.
Supporters of expanded medical and elder parole told the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security at a lengthy hearing that the Commonwealth’s prisons now hold one of the nation’s oldest incarcerated populations and that many inmates who no longer pose a public‑safety risk are nonetheless denied expedited release.
Speakers included people who were wrongfully convicted and later exonerated, currently and formerly incarcerated people, physicians who treat inmates and state advocates. They described delays and denials under the medical‑parole process enacted in the 2018 Criminal Justice Reform Act and urged changes in S.1722 / H.2693 that would clarify eligibility, speed decisions for terminal cases and provide an elder‑parole pathway for people age…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
