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Cornell Journal of Law and Public Policy

Keywords

Dementia, Prisoner Healthcare, Estelle v. Gamble

Abstract

The general population has been aging, leading to greater prevalence of age-related diseases such as dementia. However, given their environment and history with injury and illness, inmates provide a unique population that holds potentially the greatest risk for dementia. Despite this, few prisons provide the resources necessary to diagnose and care for those individuals who have dementia. The Supreme Court, in Estelle v. Gamble and its progeny, have set an extremely low standard for providing care for inmates, and legislation has protected prisons from lawsuits over lack of care for emotional or mental illnesses and injuries without physical manifestation. Unless the Court intervenes by setting a higher standard, prison administrations will continue to display an astounding lack of care or concern for inmates with dementia. However, by not addressing the problem with diagnosing dementia, prisons risk greater disciplinary issues and future liability, among other things. Further, by not having a plan in place to treat or care for inmates with dementia, incarceration exacerbates symptomology and may facilitate the victimization of affected inmates. Further, costs associated with healthcare, and possible denials from healthcare providers, may prevent an inmate from receiving any care regardless of the inmate's need for medical treatment. In the most extreme cases, undiagnosed inmates may unknowingly cause disciplinary issues that may result in parole denials or extended sentences, keeping them in prison not because they are "hardened criminals" but because they are sick.

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