The stench of manure from a nearby fertilizer factory slips past the razor wire and the sharpshooters manning the watch tower. The smell follows the inmates everywhere, from the grassy courtyard where they read or play ball to the two-woman cells decorated with family pictures to the TV rooms in each dorm. There's no escaping it.
Yet as state prisons go, the California Institution for Women in Corona is considered a pretty place, almost as inviting as a suburban college campus. Sometimes there's a salad bar at dinner. Still, no one really wants to live here. And, more emphatically, no one wants to die here.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday July 01, 2005 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 3 inches; 126 words Type of Material: Correction
Older prisoners -- A Los Angeles Times Magazine article Sunday about the increasing number of elderly prisoners in California prisons incorrectly stated that former Gov. Gray Davis said that murderers would leave prison during his term only "in a pine box." Although others have characterized his policy in this way, Davis did not actually make this remark. In addition, the article incorrectly stated that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger "is on exactly the same page" as Davis when it comes to releasing murderers. The governor, in fact, has granted parole to 84 convicted murderers whose sentences made them eligible for release, whereas Davis allowed five to be paroled. Also, the article incorrectly referred to the location of the California Institution for Women. It is in Chino, not Corona.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday July 09, 2005 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 84 words Type of Material: Correction
Elderly prisoners -- A June 26 Los Angeles Times Magazine article about the increasing number of elderly prisoners in California said the state's three-strikes law mandates life sentences without parole for certain repeat felons. In fact, on a third-strike felony sentence of at least 25 years to life, the offender is eligible for parole after serving at least 80% of the sentence. Also, the article gave the wrong first name for a prisoner at the California Medical Facility. He is Clyde Hoffman, not Claude.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday July 13, 2005 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 77 words Type of Material: Correction
Elderly prisoners -- A correction Saturday for a June 26 Los Angeles Times Magazine article about the increasing number of elderly prisoners in California said that on a third-strike felony sentence of at least 25 years to life, the offender is eligible for parole after serving at least 80% of the sentence. In fact, on a third-strike sentence of 25 years to life, the offender is eligible for parole after serving the minimum sentence of 25 years.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday July 17, 2005 Home Edition Los Angeles Times Magazine Part I Page 4 Lat Magazine Desk 3 inches; 113 words Type of Material: Correction
The article "Dying on Our Dime" (June 26) incorrectly stated that former Gov. Gray Davis said that murderers would leave prison during his term only "in a pine box." Although others have characterized his policy in this way, Davis did not actually make this remark. In addition, the article incorrectly stated that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger "is on exactly the same page" as Davis when it comes to releasing murderers. Schwarzenegger, in fact, has granted parole to 84 convicted murderers whose sentences made them eligible for release, whereas Davis
It's still dark when inmate No. 41465 wakes up to begin her day. The shrunken 82-year-old changes from her pajamas and pink house coat into jeans and a denim shirt labeled California Prisoner and begins her drill: breakfast at 6, sack lunch pickup at 6:30, infirmary at 7, where she acquires an ankle chain, belly chains and handcuffs. She then hobbles to a van for the 40-minute ride to Riverside Hospital for dialysis beginning at 8. Helen Loheac suffers from chronic renal failure, a condition that she figures costs the state $436,000 a year, not counting the two $24.75-an-hour armed corrections officers who guard her, all 5 feet and 90 pounds, for up to eight hours a day three times a week.
The financial toll of incarcerating senior citizens nationwide is staggering. Eyeglasses, hearing aids, medications and therapies, often for chronic or terminal conditions, compound the $30,929 annual average tab for housing a young, robust prisoner.
Penitentiary conditions accelerate aging, adding physiological years to the lives of men and women who in many cases compromised their health before getting arrested. They tend to get sicker than non-inmates with the same illnesses, in part because diagnosis and treatment arrive late. They're particularly vulnerable to diabetes, heart disease and hepatitis.
California spends two to three times more a year housing inmates over the age of 55, of which there are 6,400 currently incarcerated in state facilities, according to the Department of Corrections. A state Legislative Analysts Office study projects that the number of inmates over 60 could hit 30,200 by 2022, costing the state at least a billion dollars a year.
