Prison oversight office sets course as advocates wait for ‘tangible’ results

“I think it's really important that the agencies are talking to each other, that there's an emphasis in the strategic plan on trying to develop those relationships and understand how each of them works and the respective responsibilities of different bodies,” said Michele Deitch, a senior lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin. “So, all of that, I think, is good and it takes time.”

Deitch runs the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab, which has hosted conferences on issues like deaths in custody, and helms an online resource documenting prison oversight in states across the U.S.