People often think mass incarceration is the result of a few laws — the federal 1994 crime bill or state-level Rockefeller Drug laws, for example — but in reality it’s driven by everyday decisions, small and large, made by actors across the justice system, including some you’ve probably never heard of. For example, in many states, Parole Board commissioners have the power to keep thousands of people in prison for decades beyond their minimum sentences — even until their death. Too often, they use it.