Preview

Machine Bias In Criminal Cases

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
522 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Machine Bias In Criminal Cases
In 20014 Attorney General Eric Holder requested that the U.S. Sentencing Commission study the use of algorithms “Although these measures were crafted with the best intentions, I am concerned that they inadvertently undermine our efforts to ensure individualized and equal justice” he also felt that “they may exacerbate unwarranted and unjust disparities that are already far too common in our criminal justice system and in our society”.
The Sentencing Commission did not do a study however, ProPublica issued an article called Machine Bias in May 2016. They compare the risk assessment of individual arrested with the same crime but of different races. ProPublica compared two burglary cases. Brisha Borden an 18 year-old black female to that of Vernon Prater a 41 year-old white male; …show more content…
Borden had misdemeanors charges when she was a juvenile. Prater had been convicted of armed robbery and attempted armed robbery for which he served 5 years in prison; in addition to another armed robbery charge. However, Borden was rated high risk with a score of 8, while Prater was rated a low risk with a score of 3. Consequently, 2 years later Borden committed no other offense and Prated is serving an 8-year prison sentencing for breaking into a warehouse and stealing thousands of dollars’ worth of electronics. The study of Dylan Fugett (white) and Bernard Parker (black) both arrested for drug possession. Fugett risk score was a 3 despite being arrested for cocaine and marijuana possession. Parker was rated high risk with a score of 10. Fugett has since been arrested three more times for drug possession. Compare two DUI arrests of Gregory Lugo (white) and Mallory Williams (black) despite this being Lugo fourth DUI and the fact that he crashed into another car while drunk he was rated low risk
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Summary Of Peter Donnelly How Juries Are Fooled By Statistics
    • 232 Words
    • 1 Page

    Summary Of Peter Donnelly How Juries Are Fooled By Statistics

    After watching Peter Donnelly: How juries are fooled by statistics (Donnelly, 2005), I learned that the use of statistics is very important to the medical field. In the case of Sally Clark, the mother who was convicted of murdering her children, statistics proved that she was innocent.…

    • 232 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Institutional Flaws In Criminal Cases
    • 509 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Institutional Flaws In Criminal Cases

    Chapter 5 describes how, within the last century, mounting scholarly evidence has exposed institutional flaws within our judicial and police systems, resulting in the convictions of innocent persons for capital crimes. In some cases, overzealous behavior by police and prosecutors, led to the imprisonment of “factually” innocent defendants. While police sometimes coerced confessions or failed to conduct full investigations, prosectors and judges failed to evidence which might exonerate the defendant. Other judicial violations found through study included failure to follow courtroom procedures related to rule of law. One of the first wrongful conviction initiatives was through a congressional investigation in 1912. Although a noble undertaking for its time, the reports was flawed in its evidentiary compilation. The data was poorly collected and its findings poorly deduced. According to the report, no innocent person had been executed by the Federal government.…

    • 509 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Best Essays

    Understanding Incarceration Disparities: Stage-Level Analysis
    • 3561 Words
    • 15 Pages

    Understanding Incarceration Disparities: Stage-Level Analysis

    On August 8th, 2013 United States Attorney General Eric Holder made history when he announced the nearing end of the mandatory minimum-era in federal sentencing policy in his speech to the American Bar Association in San Francisco. In his address Holder lamented the condition of the Federal Justice System, expressing concern over astronomical incarceration rates, lack of inmate rehabilitation, and discouraging recidivism rates. It was racial disparities in sentencing, however, which garnered the majority of Holder’s attention.…

    • 3561 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Best Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Pros And Cons Of Mandatory Minimum Sentencing
    • 1908 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Pros And Cons Of Mandatory Minimum Sentencing

    Every situation in life is unique and has its own set of circumstances. Crime is no different, which is why it often difficult to effectively use policies like mandatory minimum sentences, because not every crime is the same. It is acceptable for their to be some disparity in sentencing for similar crimes, but there still needs to be some consistency. The initiation of mandatory minimum sentences was due in large part to the fact that judges had too much discretion and it led to many similar cases having wildly different sentences.1 There was sound reasoning for enacting mandatory minimum sentences, but they “are the product of good intentions, but good intentions do not always make good policy; good results are also necessary.”1 Mandatory…

    • 1908 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Three Strikes Law
    • 3255 Words
    • 14 Pages

    Three Strikes Law

    The criminal justice issue that has been chosen as the topic on this course project is the “three strike” sentencing and how it should be abolished. The three strike sentencing was established in 1994 under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. (Harris, 1995). In this act, the statute of three strike sentencing provides a mandatory life imprisonment sentence for convicted felons that have been convicted in a federal court for a serious and/or violent felony and they commit two or more previous crimes that they are convicted of in federal and/or state court system in which at least one of the crimes is a serious and/or violent crime. These crimes can be but are not limited to murder, sex offenses, robbery, and kidnapping.…

    • 3255 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Cultural Diversity in Criminal Justice Paper
    • 1819 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Cultural Diversity in Criminal Justice Paper

    The Justice System sentencing of racial disparity will be discussing thought out this paper. Also discuss some reason racial disparity exists and case studies. There some diversity of people, offenders, and leader in the court system as of today. Race continues to play a role in the criminal justice system went it come to the sentencing process. Racial has changed some over the years. Racial has changed some over the years. The disparity is between Blacks, Hispanics, and White Americans. The Black and Hispanics gender criminals punished with severe sentences if compared with the White gender that commits the same crime. Race and gender should vehemently not be a factor in delivering justice.…

    • 1819 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Self Serving Bias In Criminal Justice
    • 149 Words
    • 1 Page

    Self Serving Bias In Criminal Justice

    Self-serving bias refers to individual tendency to attribute positive outcomes to personal factors, but attribute negative outcomes to external factors. In Schall V. Martin, Justice Thurgood Marshall pointed out that even though judges strive to apply the law, it still “gives rise to a level of inequality because they use standards they deem appropriate.” The state has power and responsibility to protect children but also has the duty to protect the public and is usually guided by public opinion. The media has already swayed the public to demonize young black males as seen by the countless stories of the demonization of young black males. While the courts seemingly set out to give the appearance of positivity to the best interest of the public…

    • 149 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Jury Decision Making Research Paper
    • 1363 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Jury Decision Making Research Paper

    For decades, the Criminal Justice System has been thought to be an equitable system used…

    • 1363 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Racial Profiling In Criminal Cases
    • 178 Words
    • 1 Page

    Racial Profiling In Criminal Cases

    Congress enacted the material witness law in 1984 which enabled the government to secure material information of suspects who might avoid testifying in criminal cases . As soon as a witness is apprehended, the government should allow him access to a trial. During his prosecution the court determines whether the suspect should be released or detained .…

    • 178 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Black Males and the Injustice of the Penal System
    • 2435 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Black Males and the Injustice of the Penal System

    Crutchfield, R, Bridges, G & Pitchford, S (1994), Analytical and Aggregation Biases in Analyses of Imprisonment: Reconciling Discrepancies in Studies of Racial Disparity, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency.…

    • 2435 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Higher Immmorality In Criminal Cases
    • 291 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Higher Immmorality In Criminal Cases

    Mills states that higher immorality refers to a "moral insensitivity among the most wealthy and powerful members of the US power elite" (Simon, 2006, p.47). With the spate of criminal cases appearing in the media, such as Martha Stewart and Enron, there definitely appears to be a trend of higher immorality. In addition to criminal cases, there are various other examples of immorality among the power elite. A recent event that supports the existence of higher immorality is the recent confession of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom of an affair with a close friend 's wife. As reported in today 's San Jose Mercury News, Gavin Newsome admitted to having an affair with his deputy chief 's wife. In the news article, a San Francisco County Supervisor…

    • 291 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Bias and Hate Crimes
    • 1488 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Bias and Hate Crimes

    Lawrence, Frederick 2003 Enforcing Bias-crime laws without bias: Evaluating the disproportionate enforcement critique. Vol. 66:49…

    • 1488 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Wrongful Convictions In Criminal Justice
    • 1488 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Wrongful Convictions In Criminal Justice

    The Innocence Project is a non-profit legal organization that exonerates innocent individuals through the use of DNA testing. Moreover, they work to reform the criminal justice system in order to prevent further injustices that will occur. The United States criminal justice system is centuries years old and does not live up to the same standards as it once did. The American people are not equal. Minorities and the lower classes are not treated equally in our justice system. There have been far too many advancements in our world today to still be wrongly accused for crimes and paying the ultimate price for them.The system is starving for reform to ensure that every single American citizen is equal and treated accordingly to his or her inalienable…

    • 1488 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Arguments Against Racial Profiling
    • 1225 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Arguments Against Racial Profiling

    To prove the racial neutrality of policing, he refers to the data on crime rates and arrests by race. He claims “that higher levels of arrests and incarceration in the U.S. by ethnicity result substantially from higher levels of crime, not racial bias.”3 Johnson further relies on research on traffic stops that concludes that there are ethnic differences in driving behavior that explain higher stop rates for black drivers. He addresses the issue of equal hit rates among disproportionately targeted population by saying that this is a natural outcome of police “focusing on legitimately suspicious behavior.”4 Moreover, he argues that the restrictions on profiling will have an adverse effect on minority groups who experience higher rate of crimes. Therefore, Johnson concludes that racial profiling is a reasonable and effective practice in modern…

    • 1225 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Racism In The Criminal Justice System
    • 959 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Racism In The Criminal Justice System

    “According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, which is a division of the U.S. Department of Justice, 1 in 3 black men can expect to be incarcerated in their lifetime. For Latino men the imprisonment rate is 1 in 6, and for White men it’s 1 in 17”(2015, Top 8 Most Surprising Facts about Race and the US Criminal Justice System). Racism has tainted our history books for centuries and continues to plague our world to this very day . The Bureau of Justice statistic worries me, because even though that statistic may not effect me personally, it’s still hard to know that other Americans can be effected. It’s also scary because that statistic was included in an article just last year. It has become a dilemma in the criminal justice system, and more…

    • 959 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics