“'That’s a super hard standard to meet,' said Michele Deitch, an expert on jail oversight and director of the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. 'You have to get into the head of the person who caused harm,' she said. 'They had to know there was a risk of serious harm, and then they did this thing anyway, not caring.'”

“'There are certain things about incarcerated people that should remain private,' said Michele Deitch, director of the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab at the University of Texas at Austin. 'Their entire lives don't become subject to public scrutiny just because they're incarcerated.'”

“'Imagine schools, nursing homes, banks, mines, all of these entities that have some kind of responsibility for either the care of people inside or the safety of our communities — they all get oversight,' Deitch said. 'And, if they didn’t have oversight, we’d be appalled. So why don’t we think about prisons in this context?'”

"Deitch said the state needs to invest in jails to make sure they have 'the capacity to implement' the new standards."

"The Palmetto State's weak regulation of local jails isn't unique" said PJIL Director Michele Deitch

Professor Michele Deitch, director of the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab at UT-Austin joins the podcast to talk about prison oversight.

“'A lot of jails, when they realize that someone is dying or is very badly injured, they sometimes release them to a hospital or release them to the family or lower their bond to zero so they can get out and that way, technically, they’re not in custody at the time of their death,' said Michele Deitch, director of the University of Texas at Austin Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs’ Prison and Jail Innovation Lab."

"'When the [government] incarcerates someone, it takes on the obligation to meet all of their needs, whether those are feeding them, housing them, or providing medical services,' Deitch said. “Because people who are incarcerated can’t do that for themselves.”

"'Beyond the immediate physical and mental threats, extreme temperatures can also increase irritability and instances of violence in prisons,' said Michele Deitch, director of the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab at the University of Texas at Austin."

"Deitch told WyoFile that regulation of jail administration 'can be very effective.' About half of states have some form of statewide oversight of county jails, according to Deitch’s academic publications authored in 2010 and 2020."