It's been four months since I jotted down those thoughts inside my cell in Angola, and now the

journey for answers continues.

Once again from the inside, we've gathered some of the top authorities on criminal justice

reform for a discussion inside the walls of New York's Sing Sing Correctional Facility. Obviously your best day was getting out of prison.

What was the lowest day?

Yeah.

Every time I think about that, so.

Like so many other people I'd heard about criminal justice reform, but over the last couple of years,

I've done story after story after story that has really opened up my eyes in a different way.

It's an American crisis.

There's something like 2.3 million people behind bars right now.

That's works that I'm told about one and every 37 people.

America's prison population began exploding in the early 70s,

with the war on drugs, mandatory minimum sentences,

and the tough on crime policies of both parties.

We have become the most punitive society in the world.

We have the highest rate of incarceration in the world.

The rate of incarceration in this country, you look at that against a chart against NATO countries.

You have to look at the numbers and understand this isn't working.

It affects families, the economy, and disproportionately people of color.

I remember in my days as a street reporter in Chicago talking to kids who would say, you know, my only choice is I'm either going to end up dead or I'm going to end up prison.

We owe it to ourselves to create a kind of society where humans have the ability to stand back up.

...