“Sharanda Jones — prisoner 33177-077 — struggled to describe the moment in 1999 when a federal judge sentenced her to life in prison after her conviction on a single cocaine offense. She was a first-time, nonviolent offender.” Jones was not innocent. She committed a crime. But she’s done 16 years in prison, and she’s got a lifetime to go. You should read this piece by WaPo’s Sari Horowitz: From a first arrest to a life sentence.

+ “Carlos and Roby are two ex-convicts with a simple mission: picking up inmates on the day they’re released from prison and guiding them through a changed world.” From Jon Mooallem in the NYT Mag: You just got out of prison. now what?