This article was originally published by the Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization focused on the U.S. criminal justice system. You can sign-up for its newsletter, or follow the Marshall Project on Facebook or Twitter.
According to a new report out from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the median age of prisoners is on the rise. For years, researchers and state corrections officials have observed the trend, but the report provides the latest evidence of our graying prison populations—and the surprising reasons why.
From 1993 to 2013, the bureau found that the median age of a state prisoner increased from 30 to 36 years old. While some of that growth can be attributed to young offenders serving lengthy sentences, the report also found that older inmates were subject to higher arrest rates and longer sentences.
So how well do you understand the shifting demographics of our aging prison population? Peruse the best reporting the Marshall Project has found on the elderly in prison, then take this quiz to learn more.
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