Gov. Kitzhaber has expanded Oregon’s Commission on Public Safety so it can take a deeper look at how to reduce costs in the Criminal Justice system, while at the same time improving public safety.

Oregon's top leaders joined forces Monday on reforms to shave prison costs and cut crime. Gov. John Kitzhaber reappointed his Oregon Commission on Public Safety, adding members and charging it with producing a reform package for the 2013 Legislature.

Louisiana has more citizens in prison than anywhere else in the world. A New Orleans Times-Picayune team of reporters led by Cindy Chang along with photographer Scott Threlkeld investigates why. Here is a video preview of this Times-Picayune special Report.

Americans take pride in living in a land of opportunity, where you can "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" and succeed in the face of adversity. But recent research shows that old adage may not be true, depending on where in the country you live. more

Americans love economic mobility. It’s kind of a founding myth for us: We see ourselves as having broken free from rigid, aristocratic Europe to form a meritocracy that guaranteed a chance to move up in the world. Though there has been much talk lately about rising income inequality in the United States, what has worried pundits on both the left and the right has been recent reports that Americans aren’t as economically mobile as citizens other Western nations. more

A week after the Occupy Wall Street movement protested economic inequality in May Day rallies across the U.S., a study found that the ability to become rich may depend on where you live. more

The ability of individuals to achieve the American dream depends on where they live, according to the first state-by-state look at the opportunity to move up the economic ladder. more