POHR Network Review: Deaths in Custody

Review from the External Prison Oversight and Human Rights Network - August 2026.

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Author

Michele Deitch

Director, Prison and Jail Innovation Lab, University of Texas at Austin, United States

Michele Deitch, chair of the ICPA's Network on External Prison Oversight and Human Rights, is a Distinguished Senior Lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin, where she holds a joint appointment at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and at the UT School of Law and directs the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab (PJIL), which is home to the National Resource Center for Correctional Oversight. Professor Deitch is widely recognized as one of the leading experts in the U.S. on the issue of correctional oversight and prison reform, and she has written and published extensively on these topics. She also advises policymakers and agencies around the U.S. on prison and jail safety issues and on the development of independent correctional oversight bodies. In 2019, the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE) awarded her the Flame Award for her contributions to the field of prison oversight.

Professor Deitch served as the original drafter of the American Bar Association’s Standards on the Treatment of Prisoners. Prior to entering academia, she served as a court-appointed monitor of prison conditions in Texas and as a criminal justice policy advisor to the Texas Legislature. She holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School, an M.Sc. from Oxford University, and a B.A. from Amherst College.

POHR Network Review: Deaths in Custody

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