Prisoners of Age

Raising complex and timely questions about the warehousing of America’s prison population, this program accompanies photographer Ron Levine on his mission to depict the physical, emotional, and psychological conditions of aging inmates—including those nearing death. Levine focuses his work on Alabama’s Hamilton Institute for the Aged and Infirm, the first prison created specifically for elderly convicts. Through Levine’s documentation and interviews, the humanity of those incarcerated emerges in poignant detail, leading viewers to assess their own beliefs about rehabilitation, victims’ rights, and how far society’s punishment should go.