Marc Mauer, executive director of The Sentencing Project, talks to Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio about Riverside County, California's move to make those imprisoned pay for their incarceration.

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"Model Legislation for State Sentencing Reform" provides an overview of state legislation enacted or introduced to lower state prison populations and reduce the reliance on incarceration as a social policy.

Featured: Whites favored in presidential pardons during past decade

Spotlight in Research: Study in the UK shows racial disparity in sentencing

Policy: North Carolina Senate seeks to end Racial Justice Act

Analysis: Critique of “New Jim Crow” analyses

In the Courts: North Carolina controversy over Racial Justice Act sparks debate over jury selection

Policing: Study shows racial bias in Milwaukee traffic stops

For Serena Nunn to become a lawyer in her home state of Georgia, she needs the help of not one president but two.

Ashley Nellis of the Sentencing Project says young people under 18 are being tried and sentenced as adults in homicide related crimes. Click the image below to view her comments.

"State Reforms Promoting Employment of People with Criminal Records: 2010-2011 Legislative Round-Up” highlights policy reforms from  2010 and 2011 that improve employment policies for persons with criminal convictions.

Dwaun Dent and Antwan Askia were convicted of drug distribution charges, during the East Baltimore drug turf wars of the 1990s, but because of tough-on-crime mandatory sentences that imposed greater penalties for crack than powder cocaine, Dent was sentenced to more than 17 years in prison and Askia to 20.

In six years, Texas has built a "lifer's row" filled with 398 prisoners who will never be released through parole - a fast-growing group that already has outpaced the number of inmates serving a death sentence in the Lone Star State, a Houston Chronicle analysis of prison records shows.

The no-parole option has been most controversial when used against juveniles; the U.S. Supreme Court last year issued a ruling in Graham v. Florida that banned the sentences for youths convicted of non-homicide offenses. Other appeals are pending.

"Breakthrough in U.S. Drug Sentencing Reform: The Fair Sentencing Act and the Unfinished Reform Agenda” analyzes the 2010 crack cocaine sentencing reform and the factors that contributed to the law’s overwhelming bipartisan support.