Season Finale: The Legal Codes

Raw Data

How are algorithms and data science making their way into the American criminal justice system? The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world, and it’s clear from the statistics that minorities – most notably, black Americans – are locked up at disproportionate rates. So there are good reasons to take a close look at how new technologies are creeping into police departments and courts. Perhaps we can "code" for more equality and fairness by taking some decision making power away from humans and giving it to algorithms...but given this country’s inescapable history of discrimination, do we run the risk of ossifying a system that some describe as “the new Jim Crow?" Thank you so much for listening to this season of Raw Data. This episode is our season finale! We’ll be back in a few months. Please get in touch with feedback and episode ideas anytime at [e-mail]. Peace – Leslie & Mike