About the time Katrina struck, New Orleans was the jail capital of America, incarcerating people at four times the national average. Since that time, the city has reduced its local inmate population by 67%. What was the trick? First, they stopped treating jailing like a business. And second, they built a smaller jail. No really. That was a key factor. And get this; during the period New Orleans stopped jailing so many people, there has been an overall reduction in crime. Smaller jails. Less crime. Jazz hands.

+ “It almost smacked me in the face when they said that public safety is a logical consequence of a good corrections system, and not the other way around.” American officials visit German prisons and get an eye (and mind) opening experience. One of the key differences they discovered is just how hard it is to get a job working in a German prison.

+ This week, Columbia became the first American university to divest from the private prison industry.