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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.

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 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.

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.