This week, Corrections.com took an in-depth look at the stories we covered this summer, and then chose what we thought were the best of the best.

For the past few months, we have been on a mission to bring readers the most important and timely corrections news we can find. This means going beyond the individual facility programs and projects and examining those topics that relate to the industry and hard working practitioners on an even higher level.  Innovative programs are an important part of what we report because it shows what others in the field can do.

But corrections is more than offender programs. It is an entity unto itself that must deal with challenges other fields do not, like overcrowding and recidivism,  yet it is affected by world issues too, like pandemic and disaster preparedness. It is an industry that puts people from different backgrounds and lifestyles together on a daily basis and then challenges them to live and work together on a civilized and a peaceful level.  Those outside of the field expect this to happen within the walls of each facility even though many do not understand, or might not care to know, that achieving this means that each practitioner must walk a very thin line between security and the potential for violence.
The media tend to report on times when this line is crossed and things go awry. This is why Corrections.com is committed to fairly reporting on the issues that matter the most so its stories will help the most.