mandatory minimums

Louisiana’s incarceration rate is the highest in the world, and costs the state $600-million a year. So how do we change that?“Nobody’s trying to get…

"These are young people who made mistakes that aren't that different than the mistakes I made and the mistakes that a lot of you guys made," Obama said after meeting with inmates in Oklahoma City.

Stephanie George got a life sentence for drug crimes at age 26, a punishment that troubled the judge who sent her away. Now, after 17 years and a White House commutation, George tries to rebuild.

Thousands of people are imprisoned for decades, if not life, because of tough drug sentences. Now judges, lawyers and advocates ask whether it's time to dial back those penalties.

An unlikely alliance of Tea Party and liberal senators is working on legislation that could cut controversial federal sentencing minimums in half.

And the study by Human Rights Watch finds that defendants who take their fate to a judge or jury face prison sentences on average 11 years longer than those who plead guilty.