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.

Nearly 500 inmates escaped an Afghan prison last April, highlighting some major deficiencies in the country's security infrastructure. Despite that, U.S. efforts in Afghanistan may be much more high-tech than many realize. Recently, U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan and Iraq have been taking eye scans and fingerprints to compile a large database of biometric information on prisoners and civilians alike. About 35 escapees have been recaptured after their identities were confirmed using this data.

Rep. Peter King (R-NY) held a second hearing Wednesday on the radicalization of Muslims in America — this time focusing on those incarcerated in U.S. prisons. Witnesses included law enforcement and counter-terrorism officials, like Michael Downing, Commanding officer of Counter-Terrorism at the Los Angeles Police Department. "Instead of providing a balanced, peaceful, contemporary perspective of one of the great and peaceful religions of the world, we are left with a hijacked, cut and paste version known to the counter-terrorism practitioners as 'prislam,'" Downing said at the hearing.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that California's overcrowded prison system violates the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The Court ordered California to transfer or release thirty thousand inmates over the next two years. But California isn’t the only state with a high rate of incarceration. The U.S. has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. Peter Moskos thinks that Americans are in denial about the brutality of our prison system. And he has a provocative idea about how to change it. He's the author of the new book "In Defense of Flogging" and an assistant professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

The Supreme Court ruled Monday in Brown v. Plata that California's overcrowded prisons violate the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment, and ordered the release of 30,000 prisoners. The 5-4 decision was sharply divided. Justice Kennedy, leading for the Majority, described “telephone-booth-sized cages without toilets,” used to house suicidal inmates. Justice Scalia, offering a vigorous dissent, called the prisoners who will eventually be released “just 46,000 happy-go-lucky felons fortunate enough to be selected.”

As states across the country are dealing with a budget crisis, some in Oklahoma are pointing to what has become a financial nightmare: the rate of female incarceration. Oklahoma puts more women behind bars than any other state. And at the annual cost of $15,000 per inmate, incarceration has become a top budgetary concern.

President Obama stirred some controversy recently by calling Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie to commend him for giving Michael Vick a second chance, after Vick was released from prison for his involvement in an illegal dogfighting ring. Some were far on the other side of the Vick story, like pundit Tucker Carlson, who suggested that Vick should have been executed for his crimes. Outside of the public debate, many who work with formerly incarcerated Americans say that Vick is very lucky — and that second chances are rare.

The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments that could have a significant impact on California's 165,000 inmates. Early last year, a panel of three federal judges ruled that California needs to reduce its inmate population by 25 percent, because of the state's inadequate health care to its prisoners — reports show that one inmate dies every eight days from inadequate medical care.

More than a few famous people made themselves over in prison. Malcolm X, Nelson Mandela, Jesus Chris. In a way, so did Avi Steinberg.

A recent college grad who was floundering with his place in life and his career, Ari responded to an ad on Craigslist a few years back. The job listing was for a prison librarian at the Suffolk County House of Corrections in Boston. He was hired almost immediately.

There are more than 1.6 million people currently incarcerated in the United States — and more than 7.3 million people on probation, in jail or on parole. Yet people "on the outside" know very little about what goes on in American prisons. A new website developed by the MIT Media Lab is giving prisoners the opportunity to blog about life in jail. 

Between the Bars is a blogging platform for prisoners. Because prisoners almost never have access to the internet, the project works by scanning letters from prisoners sent through the postal mail and posting them on the web. Visitors can transcribe the scanned letters. Comments left by visitors to the website are mailed back to the authors in prison.

We're following up on a story we did yesterday, from the perspective of Chicago funeral home owner Spencer Leak Sr., about the challenges Chicago is facing in combatting gun and gang violence. On Monday, the Supreme Court struck down a Chicago ban on handgun ownership, a move that divided city residents. Some Chicagoans were thrilled, and say the ability to own a handgun makes them feel safer. Others say even more people will lose their lives. Why is gun violence such a problem in Chicago? The Chicago Police Department says that gang activity was involved in 74 percent of murders in the first five months of 2010. 80 people were shot and thirteen killed over the past two weekends in the city.

In our regular series, "The Value: What Matters to Us Most," correspondent Farai Chideya interviews a father of three in Newark, NJ, who is a repeat felon trying to stay straight.

A former guard at Guantanamo Bay has reunited with two of his former prisoners from Britain after he contacted them on Facebook.

Terrorism suspects held in Guantánamo Bay may soon be on their way to a prison in rural northwestern Illinois, according to an Obama adminstration plan announced Tuesday. Illinois Governor Patrick Quinn has spoken in favor of the plan, which he says will bring as many as 3,000 jobs to Thomson, Illinois, and the surrounding area. We speak with Thomson resident Vicky Trager, who is a member of the village board of trustees. We also speak with Sue Stephens, news director at WNIJ, Northern Illinois Public Radio.

View Larger Map

The rate of incarcerations in Texas is on the decline since the implementation of a new program that redirects money from the prison system to rehabilitation programs. Adam Gelb, of the Pew Center on the States, and Jim Marquart, a former sergeant in the Texas Department of Corrections, explain how the program works.

With state governments around the country under increasing budget pressure, some are looking to save money on prisons by releasing prisoners before their term ends. Early releases began last month in Colorado when the Department of Corrections set free 10 felons, including a convicted sex offender and a drunk driver put away for vehicular homicide. Michigan, Illinois, Texas and Mississippi are just a few of the other states planning early releases.

We talk with Ari Zavares, executive director of the Colorado Department of Corrections; Christine Donner, executive director of the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform coaltion; and Robert, a convicted felon who was released on parole earlier this year.

The Justice Department recommended yesterday that Attorney General Eric Holder re-open and examine cases of alleged abuse of suspected al-Qaeda members.  The abuse allegedly took place in secret CIA prisons during former President George W. Bush's administration. To go over the details, we have Vijay Padmanabhan, visiting assistant professor at the Cardozo School of Law in New York City, and Mark Danner, author of the book “Torture and Truth: America, Abu Ghraib, and the War on Terror.”

Read the Inspector General's report on interrogations (via NYTimes)

We're looking ahead to today's release of a 2004 report by the CIA inspector general that details harsh interrogation techniques used in CIA prisons. The report is said to contain details of techniques used in  secret CIA prisons, including threatening an al-Qaeda inmate with an electric drill and a gun. We speak to former CIA Director James Woolsey about what he thinks the CIA will do as the reporrt is released, as well as his post-CIA interest in green energy and the national security implications of "oil's monopoly over transportation."

In 2004, CIA Inspector General John Helgerson completed a report looking at abuses inside CIA prisons.  The report has been kept a secret until today, when portions of the report are expected to be made public. 

For more on the details of that report, we speak to Siobhan Gorman, intelligence correspondent for the Wall Street Journal and Art Keller, a former CIA case officer who served in Pakistan in 2006.

You can read Siobhan's article, "CIA Faulted for Conduct at Prisons," at the Wall Street Journal, and Art Keller's blog post on secrecy and political accountability around Washington and the CIA, "The Buck Stops Where?"