Cherri Gregg and the Logan Center for Urban Investigative Reporting visit State Correctional Institution Muncy, Pennsylvania’s largest women’s prison and home to roughly 150 lifers. As they tour the prison, they witness the challenges of aging while incarcerated. We meet Sylvia Boykin, 68, who has been at SCI Muncy for 33 years. Her body is ravaged by multiple serious illnesses. Advocates call her sentence “death by incarceration” and say our nation’s prisons are turning into nursing homes because of the “tough on crime” policies of the ’80s and ’90s. Prisons across the U.S. are grappling with rising healthcare costs that are passed on to taxpayers, as well as ethical questions about how to care for aging inmates.

Dying on the Inside: Women Lifers at Muncy Prison is a production of Create. Genius. Media and Temple University's Logan Center for Urban Investigative Reporting. Presented by WHYY

Follow us on social media for info about events, issues around mass incarceration and history @dyingontheinsidepodcast Check out our stories on WHYY.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In State Correctional Institution Muncy in Pennsylvania, roughly 150 women lifers — many of them incarcerated during the height of mass incarceration in the 1980s and 1990s — are now aging behind bars. Nationally, the average age of incarcerated women has risen to 41 and visits to the infirmary have skyrocketed in the past five years, increasing 573%. Chronic illnesses such as diabetes, arthritis, hypertension, and degenerative back issues often begin as early as age 35. By their mid-50s, many incarcerated women are already facing conditions associated with advanced aging. 

Prisons like SCI Muncy do not have the capacity to handle the complex needs of seniors. Poor diet, lack of exercise and inadequate healthcare have led to a public health crisis that receives scant attention.

Dying on the Inside: Women Lifers at Muncy Prison is a production of Create. Genius. Media and Temple University's Logan Center for Urban Investigative Reporting. Presented by WHYY

Follow us on social media for info about events, issues around mass incarceration and history @dyingontheinsidepodcast Check out our stories on WHYY.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.