Interesting article today on a new study that finding that better medical care decreases the murder rate

"Improvements in emergency care over the past 40 years have helped to dramatically lower the death rate among assault victims by nearly 70 percent and, in the process, decrease the nation's murder rate."

"People who would have ended up in morgues 20 years ago are now simply treated and released by a hospital, often in a matter of a few days said Anthony R. Harris, a sociology professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, who headed the statistical study with Harvard Medical School that looked at crime data from 1960 to 1999."

Prison terms for murder are significantly higher than those for attempted murder, assault with intent to kill, etc.

In the long run, this is good economic news. It costs more to imprison someone for life, especially without, than it does for a term of say 20 years. And when the inmates get old, we have to foot the bill for their increasing medical costs.

The POPS project is part of a national effort to focus on elderly prisoners, a growing segment of the U.S. prison population. The project addresses the special problems of these prisoners, as well as the concerns that the 'graying' of America's prisons pose for the nation in the future, through legislative reform measures and advocating for qualified older prisoners.

POPS legislation has been adopted in a number of states, and POPS has successfully petitioned boards for the release of elderly prisoners who have gone on to lead productive lives within the community. The programs are usually run through law school clinics, e.g., those at George Washington and University of Michigan.

No POPSe has ever committed a recidivist act.