All this week we’re talking about incarceration in America. Yesterday we looked at juvenile justice, and whether life-without-parole sentences for teenage murder convicts violates the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Today, we’re talking about super-maximum-security prisons and the effects of solitary confinement.

Mississippi's attorney general Jim Hood said Thursday that the state may have to issue a nationwide manhunt after four pardoned murderers left jail and "hit the road running." The four were among nearly 200 convicted criminals granted clemency by Governor  Barbour before he left office earlier this week. Why Barbour did this, and the legality of his selections, has been hotly debated by both members of the public and by victims' families.

On Tuesday, outgoing Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour granted full and unconditional pardons to 193 inmates. Many of these prisoners had been convicted of murder, rape, assault and robbery. Four of those released had served as trustees in the governor's mansion as part of a program for inmates who earned special privileges. However, Barbour may have violated the state constitution by granting pardons without giving sufficient notice. As a result Attorney General Jim Hood has blocked the release of 21 of those inmates.

At least five people are dead and many are injured after storms hit the nation's southeast. South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi were all slammed by the severe weather and suspected tornadoes. Thousands remain without power. Derrick Becker, a public information officer for South Carolina Emergency Management, talks about what his organization is witnessing.

Tuesday was Election Day across the country and voters in several states cast ballots on issues with national dimensions. Ohio voters struck down a law that restricts the collective bargaining rights of public workers. The landslide 62-38 result was setback for Republican Governor John Kasich, who implemented the law as a budget-cutting measure and campaigned across the state to prevent its defeat. Mississippi voters rejected the so-called "Personhood Amendment," which sought to outlaw abortions. In Arizona, voters defeated the main architect of that state's controversial immigration law.

The FBI, police and citizens of the city of Jackson, Missippi are debating whether the white teenagers who robbed and murdered James Craig Anderson, a black man, were motivated by racism. The case has prompted many to consider race relations in the state, and it's troubled history with race. The suspects' lawyers say it was just an act of teenage stupidity, but prosecutors say the killing was a premeditated racial killing. The U.S. Justice Department has begun an investigation into the case. Kim Severson has been reporting on the case for our partner, The New York Times.

Although the Mississippi flooding is no where near finished, the economic blow to the region is already very high. Besides the loss to personal and commercial properties, over 100,000 acres of farmlands were flooded on the weekend and grain elevators all along the river are knee deep. The trade commerce that uses the river as a main transportation waterway is being slowed and in some places, barges are moored completely. Over 60 percent of the U.S exported grain is transported via the Mississippi - and the already volatile commodity markets are acting accordingly.

The Mississippi flooding heading south into the Delta, the 200 mile stretch of land between Memphis, Tennessee, and Vicksburg, Mississippi. Along the way, river residents are watching the waters and the levees carefully, scared that they won't hold. In Vicksburg, the flood is supposed to crest just under the historic record high — and the Army Corps of Engineers says it is monitoring the situation. But even further south, in New Orleans, it is not just the vision of the Mississippi — but the memory of Hurricane Katrina that haunts residents.

We’re seeing the worst flooding along the Mississippi river in many decades. Eight states have evacuated residents, levees have been blown up or breached and the water is still coming. Many are saying that by the time the flooding reaches the southern Mississippi Delta, we’ll be looking at the worst flooding on this river since the great flood of 1927.

Memphis, Tennessee is the next place to be hit by the 100-year flood racing south down the Mississippi. About 1,300 households have been evacuated so far, and 500 people have gone to shelters set up around the city in preparation for the 48 foot high crest expected on Tuesday morning before heading further south into Mississippi. Bill Dries, reporter for the Memphis Daily News, who says that Memphis' commerce will take a hit, but that state and local emergency management authorities in Tennessee have been coordinating successfully.

It will be five years to the day, this Sunday, that Hurricane Katrina swept in and ravaged the Gulf Coast. All this week we'll be looking at how communities and local culture has changed since the hurricane. Mississippi recieved less attention than New Orleans, but the state was devastated when the hurricane hit. Mississippi saw over 200 dead in Katrina's wake, with over 5,000 homes destroyed and $125 billion in estimated damage.

• OIL SPILL TAKEOUT: We check in with Captain Kathy Wilkinson, who operates an eco-tourism business in southern Mississippi. She describes the nervous anticipation in the air as Mississippians wait for the oil slick to break on the coast. Check out her blog post for more on the spill's business impact.
• LISTENERS RESPOND: Over the phone and on the web, Takeaway listeners weigh in on the oil spill and share their favorite movie moms in honor of Mother's Day.

Kathy Wilkinson, a "boat captain and master naturalist," operates an eco-tourism business in southern Mississippi and brings us an update from the Gulf coast on the practical impact of the looming oil slick.

President Obama traveled to Louisiana yesterday for a first-hand briefing on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The "Deepwater Horizon" oil rig exploded on April 20th, rupturing its well and eventually sinking into the Gulf. An estimated 200,000 gallons of oil are gushing into the Gulf each day, as federal government and BP officials frantically explore options to contain the spill.