While Jovaan Lumpkin was in prison, his mother spent thousands of dollars in phone calls to stay connected. His mom, Diane Lewis, continues to advocate to make these calls free for prisoners and their families. Adrian Ma/NPR hide caption
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criminal justice system
What the reaction to Trump's felony conviction tells us about the word "felon" Jackie Lay hide caption
Tenor Curtis Bannister sings the role of Stan in Beethoven's Fidelio, in a dress rehearsal. Russ Rowland/Courtesy of Heartbeat Opera hide caption
Prison choirs sing in a reboot of Beethoven's opera about unjust incarceration
Olutosin Oduwole at his home in New Jersey in 2016. Shankar Vedantam/NPR hide caption
Many jails and prisons won't give prisoners buprenorphine, a drug which controls heroin and opioid cravings, known also by the brand name Suboxone. Elise Amendola/AP hide caption
Benjamine Spencer was 22 years old in 1987 when he was arrested for murder. He was newly married, and expecting his first child. Cooper Neill for NPR hide caption
The lethal injection chamber at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Ala., as seen in 2002. Dave Martin/ASSOCIATED PRESS hide caption
David Padilla with his daughter Sasha after being released a halfway house. This was his last step to returning home after nearly two decades in federal prison. Isaac Turner for NPR hide caption
'It's Just The Beginning Now,' Says Man Freed From Serving 2 Life Sentences
Prosecutor Robert Zauzmer (left) from the U.S. attorney's office in Philadelphia will head up the Justice Department's effort on pardons. Brad Bower/AP hide caption
New Pardon Chief In Obama Justice Department Inherits A Huge Backlog
"As far as I know ... there is no problem of over-incarceration for rich, white financial or environmental executives," defense lawyer Jeffrey Robinson of the American Civil Liberties Union said. Aleksandar Dancu/iStock hide caption
Vanita Gupta, head of the civil rights division at the Department of Justice. Tony Dejak/AP hide caption
Last October, a 15-year-old student and member of the Tulalip Tribes in Washington opened fire at his high school with a gun obtained from his father. The tribe had issued a restraining order against the father, but that information didn't show up in the federal criminal database — so he was able to buy the gun. Ted S. Warren/AP hide caption
A new report counted the race and gender for more than 2,400 elected prosecutors and found that 95 percent are white. Cultura RM/Matelly/Getty Images hide caption
Diann Rust-Tierney, executive director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, with teammate Barry Scheck, co-director of the Innocence Project. Samuel LaHoz/Intelligence Squared U.S. hide caption