Rethinking incarceration
The Prison and Jail Innovation Lab (PJIL) is a policy resource center at the LBJ School of Public Affairs that serves as a catalyst to ensure the safe and humane treatment of people in custody and that cultivates the next generation of justice policy leaders.
What's New?
The Alabama Solution (2026)—Screening & Discussion
The LBJ School's Prison and Jail Innovation Lab is proud to host a free community screening of the Oscar-nominated documentary The Alabama Solution (2025), an HBO documentary film exposing the crisis inside Alabama's prisons.
Set inside America’s deadliest prison system, ‘The Alabama Solution’ gives audiences a rare, unfiltered view of America’s carceral crisis that resonates far beyond the South.
Through investigative reporting that includes footage shot on contraband cell phones and insider accounts from former prison officials and others, the film exposes shocking brutality and institutional corruption in a secretive system that has grown to consume a quarter of Alabama’s state budget.
The film screening will be followed by a discussion between Prison and Jail Innovation Lab Director Michele Deitch and Beth Shelburne, an Alabama-based journalist who is a co-producer of the film.
Trapped in Time: The Silent Crisis of Elderly Incarceration
In partnership with the ACLU, PJIL has just released a new report exposing the humanitarian and fiscal challenges of a rapidly aging prison population.
The Nightmare of Sleep in Prison Report & Panel
The Prison and Jail Innovation Lab (PJIL) hosted a panel discussion on “The Nightmare of Sleep in Prison” on Thursday, February 12, 2026, from 5:15 - 6:45 pm.The event featured Prof. Sharon Dolovich, of UCLA Law School’s Behind Bars Data Project, and Alycia Welch, Associate Director of PJIL, presenting their research on the causes and impact of poor sleep on incarcerated people and staff, as well as a lived-experience response from Jennifer Toon of Lioness Justice Impacted Women’s Alliance. The panel was moderated by LBJ School Prof. Michele Deitch, Director of PJIL.
Deaths in Custody Conference
The Prison and Jail Innovation Lab hosted a symposium on “Deaths in Custody" at the University of Texas in Austin November 14-16, 2024. The convening offered an opportunity for collective reflection by the country’s leading experts on prison and jail conditions on one of the most critical, challenging, and urgent issues in our field.
PJIL Launches National Research Center for Correctional Oversight (NRCCO)
The Prison and Jail Innovation Lab is excited to announce its groundbreaking project, the National Resource Center for Correctional Oversight (NRCCO). The NRCCO is a comprehensive online resource that serves as a national clearinghouse for correctional oversight. The dynamic platform is a one stop shop to learn about what oversight looks like and how to implement it in states and localities. The resource includes research insights, profiles of every prison oversight body across the U.S., best practices, legislative developments, and relevant updates on what’s happening in the field.
The Prison and Jail Innovation Lab (PJIL) has launched!
The Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin has established a new national policy resource center working to ensure the safe and humane treatment of people in custody and cultivate the next generation of justice policy leaders. The Prison and Jail Innovation Lab (PJIL) serves as a bridge between academic research, practical experience, and policy on pressing matters related to independent correctional oversight and conditions of confinement.
Cruel and Not Unusual: Can America’s Prisons and Jails Change, and, If So, How?
PJIL hosted a symposium that brought together the country’s leading experts on prison and jail conditions to reflect on some of the most critical and challenging issues in our field. We discussed what can be done to address the seemingly intractable horrific conditions in certain correctional systems, and debated whether meaningful reform of America’s prisons and jails is truly possible.
PJIL in Action
