'It felt dirty': $60 million in Washington jail legal claims while oversight remains absent

“The cost of oversight is a fraction – a fraction of what we could be spending on expensive lawsuits from loss of life or from other problems,” said Michele Deitch, a national correctional oversight expert who directs the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab at the University of Texas. “This is a drop in the bucket to make sure that they’re actually doing what we think they’re supposed to be doing.”