Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy (31 page)

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Authors: Cathy O'Neil

Tags: #Business & Economics, #General, #Social Science, #Statistics, #Privacy & Surveillance, #Public Policy, #Political Science

BOOK: Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy
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In
1997
, a convicted murderer:
Manny Fernandez, “Texas Execution Stayed Based on Race Testimony,”
New York Times
, September 16, 2011,
www.nytimes.com/2011/09/17/us/experts-testimony-on-race-led-to-stay-of-execution-in-texas.html?pagewanted=all
.

made a reference to Buck’s race:
Ibid.

“It is inappropriate to allow race”:
Alan Berlow, “See No Racism, Hear No Racism: Despite Evidence, Perry About to Execute Another Texas Man,”
National Memo
, September 15, 2011,
www.nationalmemo.com/perry-might-let-another-man-die/
.

Buck never got a new hearing:
NAACP Legal Defense Fund, “Texas Fifth Circuit Rejects Appeal in Case of Duane Buck,” NAACP LDF website, August 21, 2015,
www.naacpldf.org/update/texas-fifth-circuit-rejects-appeal-case-duane-buck
.

prosecutors were three times more likely:
OpenFile, “TX: Study Finds Harris County Prosecutors Sought Death Penalty 3-4 Times More Often Against Defendants of Color,”
Open File, Prosecutorial Misconduct and Accountability
, March 15, 2013,
www.prosecutorialaccountability.com/2013/03/15/tx-study-finds-harris-county-prosecutors-sought-death-penalty-3-4-times-more-often-against-defendants-of-color/
.

sentences imposed on black men:
American Civil Liberties Union,
Racial Disparities in Sentencing, Hearing on Reports of Racism in the Justice System of the United States
, submitted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, 153rd Session, October 27, 2014,
www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/assets/141027_iachr_racial_disparities_aclu_submission_0.pdf
.

blacks fill up
40
percent of America’s prison cells:
Federal Bureau of Prisons, Statistics web page, accessed January 8, 2016,
www.bop.gov/about/statistics/statistics_inmate_race.jsp
.

courts in twenty-four states:
Sonja Starr, “Sentencing, by the Numbers,”
New York Times
, August 10, 2014,
www.nytimes.com/2014/08/11/opinion/sentencing-by-the-numbers.html
.

average of $
31,000
a year:
Christian Henrichson and Ruth Delaney,
The Price of Prisons: What Incarceration Costs Taxpayers
(New York: VERA Institute of Justice, 2012),
www.vera.org/sites/default/files/resources/downloads/price-of-prisons-updated-version-021914.pdf
.

A
2013
study by the New York Civil Liberties Union:
New York Civil Liberties Union, “Stop-and-Frisk 2011,” NYCLU Briefing, May 9, 2012,
www.nyclu.org/files/publications/NYCLU_2011_Stop-and-Frisk_Report.pdf
.

such as Rhode Island:
Rhode Island Department of Corrections, Planning and Research Unit, “Level of Service Inventory–Revised: A Portrait of RIDOC Offenders,” April 2011, accessed January 8, 2016,
www.doc.ri.gov/administration/planning/docs/LSINewsletterFINAL.pdf
.

including Idaho:
Center for Sentencing Initiatives, Research Division, National Center for State Courts, “Use of Risk and Needs Assessment Information at Sentencing: 7th Judicial District, Idaho,” December 2013, accessed January 8, 2016,
www.ncsc.org/~/media/Microsites/Files/CSI/RNA%20Brief%20-%207th%20Judicial%20District%20ID%20csi.ashx
.

and Colorado:
Ibid.

at least twenty-four of them:
LSI–R is used in the following twenty-four states, according to these documents (mostly published by the corresponding departments of corrections); all links accessed January 13, 2016.

Alaska,
www.correct.state.ak.us/pnp/pdf/902.03.pdf
Colorado,
www.doc.state.co.us/sites/default/files/phase_ii.pdf
Connecticut,
www.ct.gov/opm/lib/opm/cjppd/cjabout/mainnav/risk_assessment_strategy.pdf
Delaware,
https://ltgov.delaware.gov/taskforces/djrtf/DJRTFVOPAppendixBFINAL.pdf
Hawaii,
http://ag.hawaii.gov/cpja/files/2013/01/AH-UH-Mainland-Prison-Study-2011.pdf
Idaho,
http://sentencing.isc.idaho.gov/
Illinois,
www.illinoiscourts.gov/supremecourt/annualreport/2012/adminsumm/administrative.pdf
Indiana,
http://www.in.gov/idoc/files/CEBP_long_report(1).pdf
and
http://indianacourts.us/times/2011/04/risk-assessment/
Iowa,
http://publications.iowa.gov/13104/
Kansas,
www.doc.ks.gov/kdoc-policies/AdultIMPP/chapter-14/14-111a/view
Maine,
www.bja.gov/Funding/14SmartSup-MDOCapp.pdf
Maryland,
www.justicepolicy.org/images/upload/09-03_rpt_mdparole_ac-md-ps-rd.pdf
Minnesota,
www.doc.state.mn.us/DocPolicy2/html/DPW_Display_TOC.asp?Opt=203.015.htm
Nebraska,
www.uc.edu/content/dam/uc/ccjr/docs/vitas/VITA10_PVV.pdf
Nevada,
www.leg.state.nv.us/74th/Exhibits/Assembly/JUD/AJUD77H.pdf
New Hampshire,
www.nh.gov/nhdoc/policies/documents/6-33.pdf
North Carolina,
www.ncids.org/Reports%20&%20Data/Latest%20Releases/SentencingServicesContReview3-1-10.pdf
North Dakota,
www.nd.gov/docr/adult/docs/DOCR%20Programs%20Reference%20Guide%20(Rev.%204-14).pdf
Oklahoma,
www.ok.gov/doc/documents/LSI-R%20White%20Paper.pdf
Pennsylvania,
http://pacrimestats.info/PCCDReports/RelatedPublications/Publications/Publications/Pennsylvania%20Board%20of%20Probation%20and%20Parole/Ctr%20for%20Effective%20Public%20Policy.pdf
Rhode Island,
www.doc.ri.gov/administration/planning/docs/LSINewsletterFINAL.pdf
South Dakota,
https://doc.sd.gov/documents/about/policies/LSI-R%20Assessment%20and%20Case%20Planning.pdf
Utah,
http://ucjc.utah.edu/wp-content/uploads/LSI-Implementation-Report-final.pdf
Washington,
http://static.nicic.gov/Library/019033.pdf

CHAPTER 2

Alberto Ramirez, who made $
14,000
a year:
Carol Lloyd, “Impossible Loan Turns Dream Home into Nightmare,”
SFGate
, April 15, 2007,
www.sfgate.com/business/article/Impossible-loan-turns-dream-home-into-nightmare-2601880.php
.

Baltimore officials charged Wells Fargo:
Michael Powell, “Bank Accused of Pushing Mortgage Deals on Blacks,”
New York Times
, June 6, 2009,
www.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/us/07baltimore.html
.

a former bank loan officer, Beth Jacobson:
Ibid.

71
percent of them were in largely African American neighborhoods:
Ibid.

Wells Fargo settled the suit:
Luke Broadwater, “Wells Fargo Agrees to Pay $175M Settlement in Pricing Discrimination Suit,”
Baltimore Sun
, July 12, 2012,
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2012-07-12/news/bs-md-ci-wells-fargo-20120712_1_mike-heid-wells-fargo-home-mortgage-subprime-mortgages
.

CHAPTER 3

the staff at
U.S. News
:
Robert Morse, “The Birth of the College Rankings,”
U.S. News
, May 16, 2008,
www.usnews.com/news/national/articles/2008/05/16/birth-the-of-college-rankings
.

In the other quarter:
Julie Rawe, “A Better Way to Rank Colleges?”
Time
, June 20, 2007,
http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1635326,00.html
.

Baylor University paid the fee:
Sara Rimer, “Baylor Rewards Freshmen Who Retake SAT,”
New York Times
, October 14, 2008,
www.nytimes.com/2008/10/15/education/15baylor.html
.

including Bucknell University:
Nick Anderson, “Five Colleges Misreported Data to U.S. News, Raising Concerns About Rankings, Reputation,”
Washington Post
, February 6, 2013,
www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/five-colleges-misreported-data-to-us-news-raising-concerns-about-rankings-reputation/2013/02/06/cb437876-6b17-11e2-af53-7b2b2a7510a8_story.html
.

And Iona College:
Robert Morse, “Iona College Admits to Inflating Rankings Data for 9 Years,”
U.S. News
, December 1, 2011,
www.usnews.com/education/blogs/college-rankings-blog/2011/12/01/iona-college-admits-to-inflating-rankings-data-for-9-years
.

was tumbling in the
U.S. News
ranking:
Logan Wilson, “University Drops in Ranking for the Third Time in a Row,”
TCU
360, September 4, 2008,
www.tcu360.com/story/university-drops-in-ranking-for-third-time-in-a-row-12287643/
.

Raymond Brown, the dean:
Ibid.

TCU launched a $
250
million fund-raising drive:
TCUleads, “U.S. News & World Report Rankings Show Improvement for TCU,”
Texas Christian University
, September 9, 2014, accessed January 9, 2016,
http://newsevents.tcu.edu/stories/u-s-news-world-report-rankings-show-improvement-for-tcu/
.

applications to BC:
Sean Silverthorne, “The Flutie Effect: How Athletic Success Boosts College Applications,”
Forbes
, April 29, 2013,
www.forbes.com/sites/hbsworkingknowledge/2013/04/29/the-flutie-effect-how-athletic-success-boosts-college-applications/
.

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