Why Judicial Stats Matter

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