Between 2007-2010, the number of state and federal prisoners 65 years and older grew by a staggering 94 times that of the overlap prison population (which also ballooned).  A great new infographic highlights the causes and consequences in bold:

http://www.criminaljusticedegreehub.com/geriatric-prisoners/

The impact?  Money.  Loss of life and health.  Society pays for long-term care and finally burial expenses for the elderly in prison.  The cause?  Those 3-strike laws that increase a second and third arrest into major felonies so the perpretrator is condemned for life.