JusticeTechDL: PJI flips on risk assessments; privacy laws hurt defendants + New Jobs
Editor’s Note
There’s a bunch of new sign ups, so, first things first: welcome! Thank you for subscribing. This weekly newsletter attempts to capture the fast moving technology and data issues swirling around the criminal and civil justice systems. I hope you like it.
Second, this is, in part, a crowdsourced effort. Please let me know if you have an event, job posting, new research, or just saw an interesting article that you think should be included. You can email me, jason@tashea.com, or hit me up on Twitter, @jtashea.
Last, I’m continuing to implement feedback from this winter’s survey. However, if there’s something you like or do not like, let me know. I’m always aiming for a more perfect newsletter.
Now, on to the good stuff:
News
In a major reversal, the Pretrial Justice Institute no longer supports risk assessment tools. (PJI) A national map showing where pretrial risk assessments are being used was released. (MPI) A new academic piece looks at the impact when a risk assessment is overlooked. (arxiv)
Medical records firm Practice Fusion let opioid makers help design its software, leading doctors to prescribe more painkillers, says DOJ. (Verge) (h/t Keith Porcaro)
[Podcast] Rebecca Wexler talks about how privacy laws hurt criminal defendants. (TD)
In Los Angeles, the police fabricated evidence so people would end up in a gang database, leading to increased police scrutiny. (LAT)
Orin Kerr has a new article shedding light on whether or not the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination applies to compelled decryption. (SSRN)
Florida rolled out a statewide court text message reminder system. (FB) (h/t Sam Harden)
NYPD replaces police log books with an iPhone app. (NYT)
There’s a new app for criminal defense attorneys navigating a client’s immigration issues. (MP)
Here’s more about the fight against PACER, the federal pay wall in front of public court filings. (NYT) The PACER fee battle pits nonprofits against the government. (BL)
In court, the DEA is asking for user data from WhatsApp, which uses end-to-end encryption. (TD) Meanwhile, a new federal bill could punish web platforms for using the same kind of encryption. (Verge)
From text messages to machine learning, here’s how legal aid is leveraging tech to increase access-to-justice. (LEI)
Tinder and Bumble are under investigation for underage use, sex offenders, and data handling. (TNW)
In an attempt to solve crime, Baltimore police will create a new evidence database. (Sun)
Lawyer referral company UpCounsel will shut down in March. (LS)
How to teach probability ratios to law students. (WOL) (h/t Andrew Davies)
Events
If you are in the Denver area, the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System announced its spring speaker series. (IAALS)
The Machine Learning Symposium will be held at Santa Clara University in San Jose on March 6, 2020. (SCU)
Technology at Society’s Frontier: Framing the Big Legal Issues, a day long symposium with CLE credit, will be held in San Francisco, March 6, 2020. (NW)
Accelerate Good Global, a tech and social impact event hosted by Fast Forward, a non-profit accelerator, is happening in San Francisco, Mach 7, 2020. (FFWD)
LITCon, which focuses on the use of technology in law and legal education, is going down at Suffolk Law School in Boston, March 30, 2020. (Suffolk)
We Robot 2020 will take place at the University of Ottawa, April 2-4, 2020. (UOttawa)
The Institute for Technology Law & Policy at Georgetown reopened its student writing competition, deadline is May 31. (GULC)
The Partners for Justice conference will be held in Baltimore on May 14, 2020. (PJC)
The Law and Society Association conference is May 28-31, 2020 in Denver. (LSA)
Jobs & Opportunities
AI Now Institute is looking for a research lead and post-doc researcher. (AI Now)
Arnold Ventures has a bunch of job openings in their various criminal justice tracks. (Arnold)
Aspen Tech Policy Hub is looking for fellows, deadline to apply is Feb. 13. (ATPH)
ATJ Tech Fellows Program is looking for fellows and partner organizations. (ATJ)
Berkeley Law's Technology & Public Policy Clinic is looking for a clinical teaching fellow. (Cal)
The Center for Justice Research at Texas Southern University is looking for a research analyst. (TSU)
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has openings in their Justice and Opportunity vertical. (CZI)
The Chicago Bar Foundation needs a community and training manager for its justice entrepreneurship project. (ILAO)
The Free Law Project is looking for a developer. (FLP)
Georgetown Law's Center on Privacy and Technology is hiring an institute associate. (GULC)
The Harvard Cyber Law Clinic needs a new clinical instructor. (BKC) (h/t Gabe Tenninbaum)
HiiL, an access to justice non-profit, has openings. (HiiL)
The Illinois Courts are looking for a senior program manager for its legal technology initiatives. (ILCourts)
Measures for Justice has numerous open positions in their research and technology sections. (MfJ)
Neota Logic, an expert systems platform, is looking for a university and non-profit relationships director, plus other roles. (Neota)
New York Legal Aid Society needs a data quality analyst for their cop accountability project. (NYLAS) (h/t Cynthia Conti-Cook)
Paladin, a pro bono platform, is looking for an account manager. (Paladin)
The Philly District Attorney's Office is looking for researchers, data scientists and programmers. (PDAO)
The Policing Project at NYU Law needs a legal director. (PP)
Pro Bono Net has numerous openings in New York for project management and other roles. (PBN)
Quest for Justice is building out its dev team. (Q4J) (Disclosure: I work for Q4J.)
Recidiviz, a criminal justice data platform, is looking to fill multiple roles. (Recidiviz)
The Stanford Center for Human-centered Artificial Intelligence wants to fill a number of director roles. (HAI)
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office needs a data administrator. (SCDAO)
Suffolk University Law School is looking for a legal innovation and technology clinical fellow. (SULS)
Swansea University School of Law is filling a number of legal tech and computational law teaching and technical jobs. (SU)
TechCongress is hiring a deputy director. (TC)
Theory and Principle, a legal software development boutique, needs a back-end dev. (T&P)
Thorn, a platform fighting child sex trafficking, has a number of positions open. (Thorn)
Upturn is looking for summer fellows. (Upturn)
Yale Law School is looking for visiting fellows for the Information Society Project. (ISP)