Prison abuse, deaths, and escapes across U.S. prompt calls for more oversight
Rampant sexual abuse by guards at women’s prisons in California. An inmate suicide that went unnoticed for 18 hours in Washington state. Multiple jail breaks in Pennsylvania.
Prisons and jails across the United States are overcrowded and understaffed, jeopardizing the safety of incarcerated people, correctional officers, and surrounding communities. As state legislatures convene in the coming weeks, many lawmakers are focusing on a key criminal justice issue for prisons and jails: more oversight.
Accountability for the nation’s correctional facilities is decentralized and inconsistent. While some states, counties and municipalities have independent oversight bodies, many rely on internal mechanisms or lack formal systems altogether, according to Michele Deitch, director of the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab at the University of Texas at Austin, which runs the National Resource Center for Correctional Oversight.
