Technology

Drawing on a case study of more than 175,000 defendants in New York City, this report concludes concerns over risk assessments perpetuating racial disparities in pretrial decisions are real. However, at least in the New York City example, it finds a more targeted use of risk assessments could both significantly reduce pretrial detention and alleviate racial disparities. But realizing that potential requires jurisdictions to think "beyond the algorithm"—what do they want to use a risk assessment for?

As the use of technology in the justice system becomes more common, it is important that those designing and implementing new systems adhere to principles that support human dignity with an eye on achieving objectives in the simplest and least intrusive way possible. These principles were developed by the Center for Court Innovation in collaboration with the Open Society Foundation and Blue Ridge Labs at the Robin Hood Foundation.

Artificial intelligence is both powerful and potentially ungovernable. It's also already in use in criminal legal systems across the country. While seeing significant promise in AI, this policy brief calls for a moratorium on any use of the technology that would affect people’s liberty interests or pose a substantial risk of harm. It also makes a series of recommendations to safeguard AI's implementation in lower-risk settings.