Editors' note: Sounding Board is one person’s take on a many-sided subject and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of U.S. Catholic, its editors, or the Claretians.

Luisa Borrego didn’t know much about the prison system before her son, at only 14 years old, was arrested after being in the back seat of a car during a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles. He was convicted of murder and now, at age 20, is serving a sentence of 50 years to life.

With U.S. incarceration rates at an unsustainable high, crime victims are taking the lead in an effort to rehabilitate offenders.

The Rev. John Yesunatha Das, a Pentecostal Pastor, calls himself "buffalo color"—black. Though his wife is Brahmin, their daughter Feba inherited his dark skin, a visible sign that he's a Dalit, or untouchable.

As a product of a mixed-caste marriage, Feba doesn't have a caste, but when the second-year honors history major started university, most the girls didn't speak to her because of the color of her skin.