From the course: Ethics and Law in Data Analytics

Algorithms and accountability

From the course: Ethics and Law in Data Analytics

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Algorithms and accountability

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- In July 2014, Eric Holder, who was the US Attorney General at the time, expressed concern about the use of big data in sentencing, stating that criminal sentencing must be based on the facts, the law, and actual crimes committed, the circumstances surrounding each individual case. They should not be based on factors that a person can't control, or the possibility of a future crime that has not taken place. They may exacerbate unwarranted and unjust disparities that are already far too common in our justice system and our society. So Nathan, how does this Holder quote relate to lab four? - Yeah, I think it's pretty directly relevant to what we've been concerned with and what we're going to be concerned with in mod four. Here, you have one of the highest-ranking legal officials in all of the land expressing the kinds of concerns that we've been talking about. He talks about, he's worried about using characteristics, variables in our language, that you can't control, that would be unfair. He talks about the theory of punishment that we now know is recidivism. He doesn't use the word, but he says it should be based on past crimes, not the probability of future crimes. Hopefully, the stuff we've gone over in the first three labs have set us up for what we're about to uncover because, so far, we've been thinking in terms of ethics, but, obviously, that's not all to think about. - Right. - And, so, even, what are they going to do in this lab? - Well, they'll do the lab. In addition to the lab, they're going to go another IRAC. We've done three IRACs up 'till now. I've led you through each one. And, remember, this is the legal analysis tool. So, for mod four, the lab will actually get tied to the last IRAC. And, without giving anything away, because you actually have to complete the lab first to do the IRAC, you'll be given instructions and everything you need to actually go through that last legal analysis on your own and see if you can identify the issue, the rule, the application, and the conclusion with respect to this particular lab. - Excellent, thank you. - Yeah. - Let's dig in.

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