Hidden Algorithms, Bad Science, and Racial Discrimination in the D.C. Juvenile Justice System
How D.C.’s juvenile system incarcerates its youth based on a shoddy SAVRY algorithm, unreliable analyses, and the “criminality” of their parents. Why and how this needs to change.
Since 2004, Washington, D.C.’s Juvenile Justice System has used a risk assessment algorithm that influences juvenile sentencing outcomes under the banner of scientific rigor, fairness, and public safety.
However, there are just two problems: the algorithm and methods that D.C. uses to send kids to jail are based on junk science, and the courts seem obsessed over incarcerating young people of color.
Sound like maybe we have a problem?
A Questionable Algorithm
As reported in AI Now’s 2018 Litigating Algorithms report, juvenile courts in D.C., like many other jurisdictions, increasingly rely on risk assessment tools to facilitate interventions for juvenile offenders. But as I learned from AI Now’s reporting and…
