why judicial stats matter
Post on 12-Apr-2017
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Baseball stats are widely available and plentiful
What about the court system that governs us?
OPEN DATA FOR JUSTICEStats of the NC judicial systemshould be open and transparent
But they ain’t
Why does this matter?
Do some judges favor particular types of
defendants?
Wouldn’t you like to see this guy’s track record before voting?
Are our prosecutors honest?
Can open data help citizens & leaders spot police behavior patterns sooner?
Do we really need cops like this?
Could open data have prevented Walter Scott’s death?
Exceeds arrest rate average,Af. Am. males
42%
Or this…?
The data is available…
Open Data for Justice‘Help yourself’
Data FormatNot exactly user-friendly
All the rulings made in NC for 2008 - 2013
• Judge code• Attorney type• Arresting officer• Case verdict
code• Originating
agency
• Minimum sentence length
• Demographics of the defendant– race– age / dob– gender– address
We’re putting this data online.
In a public, legible, searchable format.
With REST API endpoints.
Mockups
Mockups
Mockups
Current State of Project• MySQL DB schema built and
approx 35 million records inserted
• UI mockups 40% completed…to be rehashed in collaboration with UNC Chapel Hill statisticians
If we build it, who would use it?
“Big data can transform government by allowing unprecedented transparency and making possible previously unimagined oversight of public actors. Equal justice under law? Let’s find out. With public access to public information, we can find out if our criminal justice system works as it should—without regard to geographic location, the identities, personalities, or idiosyncrasies of the actors involved, or with bias introduced by potentially disturbing factors such as race, gender, or social status. Our public institutions, including the courts, operate under norms of public accessibility and openness. This project seeks to enhance that public accountability. The tools and analyses that this project will make possible will help individuals involved in the court system help themselves and allow analysts from all sides to crunch the numbers to find out if the system is as fair and impartial as we hope it is.“
Frank R. BaumgartnerRichard J. Richardson Distinguished Professor of Political Science
UNC Chapel Hill
http://www.unc.edu/~fbaum/index.htmlfrankb@unc.edu
Academics & StatisticiansFrank is currently studying race, with particular emphasis on the death penalty and on traffic stops.
“Government transparency opens information up to those being governed. But we need more transparency in the court system. Of the three branches of state government - executive, legislative and judicial - the judicial system tends to attract the least amount of media coverage. Making records more accessible can only help us better understand the actions of the courts.“
John ClarkExecutive Director
Reese News LabUNC School of Media & Journalism
johnclark@unc.edureesenewslab.org
News Organizations
John currently serves as the Executive Director at UNC Chapel Hill’s Reese News Lab
“Having transparency in our court system is a vital component of achieving justice. I believe that any website or application that would allow court officials, journalists and citizens better access to clear data regarding how our process works would be an invaluable tool.“
Amanda L. LambReporter
WRAL News
Alamb@wral.com919-618-4779Twitter: @alambFacebook: WRAL Amanda Lamb
News OrganizationsAmanda covers crime stories and legal news in the Raleigh and Triangle area
“Governmental transparency is a good thing. We as voters will be able to make better-informed choices at the ballot box with easier access to candidates' track records. For example, we have a District Court judge here in Wake County with a reputation for being prejudiced against Hispanics. I'd like to see that judge's objective data for trials with Hispanic people compared to other judges' data. (Comparing % of acquittals, % of jail sentences; % of fine-only punishments, etc.) Maybe the reputation will be discredited or maybe affirmed. Either way, we'll have the ability to make a better-informed decision with easier access to the data. As it is today, we don't know if that judges' reputation is well-deserved or not. People might vote for or against that judge based on a reputation that might be entirely undeserved.Government will function better when the voting public is better-informed.“
Walter B. RandAttorney at Law
Walter Rand Attorney at Law, PA
Walter@WalterRandLaw.com919-398-6338
LawyersWalter is a criminal defense lawyer in Raleigh NC. He has been helping people in Wake County for nearly 20 years
“In 2015, it should not be difficult for someone to obtain basic information about the racial and gender demographics of persons charged with a particular crime in a given jurisdiction. And yet it is. The AOC’s means of tracking this information is anachronistic and inefficient. It remains a challenge to get reliable metrics about important aspects of the criminal justice system as it relates to race, age, and gender. I hear regularly from attorneys who believe this information is material to a particular claim or defense they hope to raise and who are frustrated by its inaccessibility. If laws are being selectively enforced, the public and the courts need to know. This project makes available information that will make it easier to evaluate the extent to which our system is delivering on its promise to provide equal justice under law.“
Ian A. ManceCivil Rights Attorney
Southern Coalition for Social Justice
ianmance@southerncoalition.org919-323-3380
Civil Rights & Non-Profit Organizations
Ian’s current practice includes cases involving police misconduct, prison conditions, and wrongful convictions.
Anyone Who VotesAnyone and everyone should be able to view court decision data
Examples of real data we can analyze right now using our
current system
Statistics for Marijuana Possession and Resisting Arrest
February 2015 - August 2015
Pot Arrests of Charlotte Residents - By RaceFebruary 2015 - August 2015
Pot Arrests of Charlotte Residents - By AgeFebruary 2015 - August 2015
Resisting ArrestRaleigh Residents - By RaceFebruary 2015 - August 2015
This is not a silly app thing
Example of a Dumb AppFeatured on Product Hunt
Example of “Innovation”Batch 13 at 500Startups
Another Example of Students Creating “Innovative Startups”
Batch 13 at 500Startups
“There can be no faith in government if our highest offices are excused from scrutiny - they should be setting the example of
transparency.”Edward Snowden
This is what we have
This is what we deserve
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