Prison Reform

New report reveals the devastating toll of COVID-19 in Texas prisons and jails

Nov. 9, 2020
Texas has had more COVID-19 infections and deaths among incarcerated people and staff than any other state in the country, according to a new report from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin. The report, titled "COVID and Corrections: A Profile of COVID Deaths in Custody in Texas," indicates that at least 231 people have died from COVID-19 in Texas prisons and jails, including both incarcerated people and staff.

New report reveals the devastating toll of COVID-19 in Texas prisons and jails

Nov. 9, 2020
Texas has had more COVID-19 infections and deaths among incarcerated people and staff than any other state in the country, according to a new report from the Lyndon B.

The hidden crisis in America's jails

Oct. 16, 2020
Reuters conducted its own tally of fatalities in America’s biggest jails, pinpointing where suicide, botched healthcare and bad jailkeeping are claiming lives in a system with scant oversight.

The hidden crisis in America's jails

Oct. 16, 2020
Reuters conducted its own tally of fatalities in America’s biggest jails, pinpointing where suicide, botched healthcare and bad jailkeeping are claiming lives in a system with scant oversight.

N.J. prison watchdog just got new powers to curb abuse. Advocates fear they won't be used.

Aug. 15, 2020
Months before New Jersey prisoners began dying with the coronavirus at the highest rate in the country, lawmakers quietly beefed up oversight of state prisons. Under a law sgned earlier this year, the ombudsman overseeing state prisons in New Jersey gets broad investigatory powers, making the official one of the strongest in the United States, said LBJ's Michele Deitch.

N.J. prison watchdog just got new powers to curb abuse. Advocates fear they won't be used.

Aug. 15, 2020
Months before New Jersey prisoners began dying with the coronavirus at the highest rate in the country, lawmakers quietly beefed up oversight of state prisons.

Breaking out with a bar of soap

Aug. 11, 2020
Prisoner advocates and policy experts like LBJ's Michele Deitch have been pushing for years for the creation of an independent oversight body to monitor and prevent recurring problems in state prisons, including poor conditions, medical care and security.

The only Texas prison reporting zero coronavirus cases is where inmates make soap. But that's not what's credited with protecting it.

Aug. 9, 2020
LBJ's Michele Deitch talks with the Texas Tribune about the protocols and policies enforced by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice at the Roach Unit, a state-run prison that is the only one in Texas that has reported no coronavirus cases.

Prison reform revisited: COVID, Black Lives Matter, and new opportunities for reform

Aug. 5, 2020
LBJ's Michele Deitch joins LBJ's Jeremi Suri on his podcast to talk about criminal justice and prison reform in light of BLM protests and COVID-19.

COVID-19 and the California prison crisis: 24th San Quentin inmate dies last Friday

Aug. 9, 2020
LBJ's Michele Deitch talks with the Naked Capitalism blog about California's decision to transfer prisoners infected with COVID-19 into San Quentin, in opposition to her recommendations
Subscribe to Prison Reform