Michele Deitch

Portrait of Michele Deitch.

J.D., M.Sc., Distinguished Senior Lecturer

LBJ School of Public Affairs, UT School of Law

PJIL Director

An attorney and national thought leader with more than 35 years of experience working on criminal justice and juvenile justice policy issues with state and local government officials, corrections administrators, judges, and advocates, Michele holds a joint appointment as a distinguished senior lecturer at the LBJ School and UT School of Law. Her areas of specialty include independent oversight of correctional institutions, prison and jail safety issues, the management of youth in custody, and juveniles in the adult criminal justice system. Before entering academia, she served as a federal court-appointed monitor of conditions in the Texas prison system, as General Counsel to the Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee, as policy director for Texas’s sentencing commission, and as a consultant to justice system agencies around the country. She has won numerous teaching awards, including being named to the 2019 Texas Ten List of the most inspiring professors at the University of Texas at Austin; has been a Soros Senior Justice Fellow; and is the recipient of the 2019 Flame Award for the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE) for her significant contributions to corrections oversight. She holds degrees from Amherst College, Oxford University, and Harvard Law School.

An attorney and national thought leader with more than 35 years of experience working on criminal justice and juvenile justice policy issues with state and local government officials, corrections administrators, judges, and advocates, Michele holds a joint appointment as a distinguished senior lecturer at the LBJ School and UT School of Law. Her areas of specialty include independent oversight of correctional institutions, prison and jail safety issues, the management of youth in custody, and juveniles in the adult criminal justice system. Before entering academia, she served as a federal court-appointed monitor of conditions in the Texas prison system, as General Counsel to the Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee, as policy director for Texas’s sentencing commission, and as a consultant to justice system agencies around the country. She has won numerous teaching awards, including being named to the 2019 Texas Ten List of the most inspiring professors at the University of Texas at Austin; has been a Soros Senior Justice Fellow; and is the recipient of the 2019 Flame Award for the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE) for her significant contributions to corrections oversight. She holds degrees from Amherst College, Oxford University, and Harvard Law School.

Michele oversees the lab, guides its activities and initiatives, leads and inspires its diverse research team, develops strategic partnerships with practitioners and policymakers, and ensures the lab produces high-quality research and innovative deliverables. She also teaches a full-time course load for policy and law students focused on criminal justice and youth justice policy, including research-based classes designed for significant impact.

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