Why Families of People Who Died in Jail Can't Get Their Day in Court

Over the years, however, getting courts to step in has gotten even tougher. “It’s very hard to bring these cases procedurally,” said Michele Deitch, the director of the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab at the University of Texas at Austin. “It’s very hard to get the courts to exercise any kind of oversight.” Many judges have become increasingly resistant to prisoners’ civil rights cases, she said.