The nation's newest Miss America is a 23-year-old Wisconsin brunette who had long conversations with her family mulling whether or not to make her father's jail time for mail fraud the heart of her campaign in the beauty pageant.

Laura Kaeppeler said she wants children of incarcerated adults to feel less alone, to have mentoring and as much of a relationship with their parents as possible.

The brainy contestant estimates there are more than two million children with parents in jail.

(READ the AP story in HoumaToday)