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propublica.org
10/ Because the algorithm measures factors where racial disparities already exist, it could disproportionately harm Black people, civil rights attorneys added.

Already, Black people make up two-thirds of Louisiana’s prisons, more than double their share of the state population.
Article excerpt: Take the algorithm’s use of prior employment data: People raised in low-income communities do not have the same work opportunities as those brought up in more affluent neighborhoods, said Megan Stevenson, an economist and criminal justice professor at the University of Virginia School of Law. Using such an algorithm to determine someone’s chances of parole, she said, “suggests that poor people should be less eligible for parole than wealthier people.” Factoring in prior drug convictions, too, is more likely to impact Black prisoners, Stevenson said. Black people use illegal drugs at roughly the same rate as white people, but are arrested and convicted for it in greater numbers because their neighborhoods are more heavily policed, she said. In using these data points to produce a risk score, “you’re going to create a biased algorithm to make biased decisions,” Stevenson said.
April 11, 2025 at 1:31 AM