Criminal justice professor John Paitakes says there is growing interest in other sentencing choices besides jail or prison.

JOHN PAITAKES: "In other words, somebody does a crime, what other alternatives do we have other than prison? We have some very good electronic monitoring, where either with a bracelet or an anklet we can monitor your geographic area. So instead of going into jail or prison, you can work your job during the day and after that we expect you to be home for the rest of the evening. You're on the bracelet and, you know, you're confined to your home. But it's not the same as jail and it's certainly a less expensive alternative."

Professor Paitakes says programs like these are generally used for non-violent offenders. So a drug abuser, for example, might be sentenced to a drug treatment center.

JOHN PAITAKES: "In-patient drug programs. There's boot camps that they're using. There's short term facilities and halfway houses. So we do have other alternatives. I think you'll see nationally a lot more emphasis on that and keeping the prisons for more dangerous people."

FAITH LAPIDUS: Human Rights Watch says officials should look at how to reduce the population of elderly prisoners without risking the safety of the general public.

The group also suggests special training for those responsible for older prisoners. It says one of the greatest difficulties for corrections officers in these situations is learning to practice patience. Human Rights Watch says those who work with older prisoners are the ones who can best decide what needs to change to better care for them.