A former New Orleans parole officer reflects on what could be done better to help parolees stay out of jail and build new lives.

It can’t buy freedom, but it bought one inmate some life-improving phone calls.

Japan’s population is aging rapidly. We’ve been looking into some of the ramifications of Japan’s aging population with our partners at the BBC. But living longer doesn’t necessarily mean living well. In Japan there is a bit of an old-age crime wave born out of desperation and poverty. Almost 20 percent of Japan’s prison population […]

The study comes from the Prison Policy Initiative, a nonpartisan group that examines mass incarceration.

The study comes from the Prison Policy Initiative, a nonpartisan group that examines mass incarceration.

Starting next year, a judge, not ability to pay bail, will decide who remains jailed in the state before trial.

"Meals and food is the basic way that we show love and respect for one another," said the jail's warden, Catherine Fontenot. "And that’s what we need to show with people who have offended us the greatest."

But food coming from a prison isn't necessarily a selling point.

Judges have long required people accused of crimes to pay bail. A new group called The Bail Project is seeking to bail lower-income people out of jails in cities across the country.

Data compiled by the Prison Policy Initiative shows that the average incarcerated worker in state and federal prison now earns 86 cents per day, a 7 cent decrease from 2001 when inmates earned 93 cents for a day’s work.