powerpoint

1. Ron Levine
Photographer / Producer
www.prisonersofage.com
www.ronlevinephotography.com
Prisoners of AgePrisoners of Age
Images of the Elderly in PrisonImages of the Elderly in Prison

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“We do have a habitual
offender act in Alabama. It
has increased our prison
population tremendously,
especially after three
strikes. If the crime rate
remains as it is, nationwide
you’re going to see an older
aged inmate population as
time goes on. There’s going
to be a need for more and
more facilities to handle
aged and infirm inmates.”
- Billy Owen, Warden,
Hamilton A&I
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“ It’s hard. Its hard in here.
Because after so long you
lose support of your family. I
have children, but the last I’ve
heard from them was in 2005.
I’m in here for ‘helping my
family’. I learnt my lesson.
That won’t happen again....but
y’see they don’t help me....
I just take care of myself the
best that I can…”
- Theda Rice, 77, Murder
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“ Well, now... God
happened, and
because I got this
stroke, and cause of
my knee I can't run
no more. But at the
time, I could run.
And I could go like
the wind, and they
never could catch
me. But the last time
I escaped, it was
1962. They didn't
catch me till 1992. “
-William ‘Tex’
Johnson, 67, Theft
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“ Well, conditioning will
make you do most things.
Couldn't make ends meet.
I needed money to pay for
my wife's hospital bills. We
were both sick. She's in
the hospital now. She's got
an operation on her legs.
Can't walk around, but
she's doing pretty good. ”
-Robert Cowlin, 75,
Trafficking
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“ I had trouble with a police
officer, in Utah. That's why I'm
all the way here. He shot me. I
shot him back. That's what put
me in trouble..
He didn't hurt me too bad. I
didn't hurt him too bad. And
then they gave me ten years for
that. ”
- John Wilson, 76, Attempted
Murder
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“ Well, I took up with a man's wife.
Me and her'd been living together for
5 years. Me and him's been up about
it a couple times. He come over one
night, I was bad drunk. She was too.
Me and him got to argue. I brought
out the ball bat. She's lying on the
bed. And I grab the ball bat to kill
him. No use denying that. I'm gonna
kill him. Just as I swung at him, she
run out and run between me and him
and caught her right there- killed her
deader than a doornail. “
- Thurmon Jetton, 68, Murder
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“A lot of these guys will die here. A
large portion of the older inmates
have spent the largest portion of their
life in prison.
And with their criminal record, it’s
really hard for them to ever get parole
in the state of Alabama. They’ll end
up dying here.
They realize, at their point of time in
life, if they can tell their story, if they
can show their picture to a young
man, and make them understand that
this is what happens to you after 20 or
30 or 40 years of crime, I think they’d
like to make that point. “
- Billy Owen, Warden, Hamilton A&I

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“ We have a handful a year that just absolutely
refuse parole.
You take a person, you put him in the system, and
you take away responsibilities from him. You tell him
when to get up, you tell him when to sleep, you tell
him when to eat, everything. And then you take him
and put him back into society and expect him to be
responsible. He doesn't know what responsibility is.
Because you've taken that away from him. ”
-Gary Crutchfield, Assistant Warden, McCain
Correctional
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“I shot a woman.
Killed her. That put me
in here. I had the devil
in me ... I wouldn’t do
nothing like that now.”
-Roland Campbell, 82,
Murder
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“ I won’t make it. I
had a heart attack
in prison. I have no
car. No one to take
me. I’ll be lucky to
make 5 weeks what
with downtown
Dayton and all the
traffic and all. I
have to make some
kind of program,
too, but at 80 years
old what are you
gonna teach
somebody about
sex. “
-Milton Chance, 77,
Sex Crime
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“ I’ve been in prison for
35 years for robbery
and attempted murder.
I started stealing when
I was 15. I robbed
banks. I always worked
alone. In 1994, I was
caught for attempted
murder. I had mixed
booze and medications.
He isn’t dead.
In 1996 I got lung
cancer. Now, I’m
getting treated but they
won’t release me.
They’re waiting for me
to die. “
- Jules Sauvageau, 59,
Attempted Murder
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“ He would go into black moods.
Very black moods where he
wouldn’t speak to me for 2 or 3
weeks. He would stay out in the
garage and only come in for meals.
He started hitting on my daughter.
That’s what done it. She was 28.
I’m not one that displays my
feelings that much, but that
morning I just snapped. I couldn’t
take it any longer, I couldn’t think
of a way out.
I was very hungry.”
-Julie Hynes, 52, Second Degree
Murder
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“ If they let me out, fine. And if they don’t,
that’s fine too. What’s the difference? I
got 15 years left. When you get to the
point in your life that you don’t care
anymore, what happens? Then that’s it.
You got to have something to reach out
for. Hopefully, you might see a little flicker
of light at the end of the tunnel. But she’s
awfully dim. “
-Robert Henderson, 70, Murder

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“ There’s a heavy price to pay for my
stubbornness, for my pride, for my
ego. And this is it. This is it. A buddy
says, “Well, you won.” I said, how did I
win? He goes, “Well, you’re alive and
they’re dead.” I go, how did I win? Yes,
they’re dead, I’m going away for life.
Who the hell won out of this situation?
Who won?”
-Edward Francis, 50, Murder
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“ My husband was an ex-
cop... We were married 43
years... He had been beating
me around...
All I know is , when I came
to, the gun was laying there
and he was in the chair with
a bullet hole in the back of
his head.”
-Ethel Dedmon, 65, Murder

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