derwyn bunton is the chief public defender in new orleans. >> we in the south are part of the bible belt, very christian part of the country that has produced some very conservative values that play themselves out in our criminal justice system. there is also the history of slavery and racism in the south. >> do you think the fact that district attorneys and judges are elected plays a big role in the tough pot penalties here? >> i think that's played a big part in sentencing; it becomes easy to sort of make a political name prosecuting very vigorously drug offenses. >> he was just so concerned about his children's well-being, you know i'm going to be 60 years old and gonna miss everything in their lives, everything. >> latonya noble is bernard's sister. >> this is the picture of the whole family. >> the impact of noble's imprisonment on his family has been devastating. >> when my daughter told me just the amount of years he got, i thought i would just die. it's been really hard. >> what's it been like to have your father in jail? >>time is precious, so i feel that's it's not right. becau