Texas Tribune Festival 2019

Blakinger covers prisons, criminal justice and death row at the Houston Chronicle. Before her career in journalism, she spent 21 months behind bars in upstate New York on drug-related charges. Previously, Blakinger worked at the New York Daily News and the Ithaca Times. She was also... Read More →

Kerman is the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir “Orange is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison.” She serves as an executive consultant to the Netflix show based off her book. Kerman also serves on the board of directors of the Women’s Prison Association... Read More →

Deitch is a senior lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin’s LBJ School and School of Law and a Soros Senior Justice Fellow. She has more than three decades of experience working on criminal justice issues and previously helped draft the American Bar Association's standards... Read More →

Peña was appointed major of the Travis County Sheriff's Office Corrections Bureau in 2018, making her the first female jail administrator in Travis County history. She has worked in the Travis County Sheriff’s Office for 26 years in a variety of assignments. Most recently, Peña... Read More →