Problem

BIPOC individuals are subject to mass incarceration, over-criminalization, and excessively harsh punishments within the US justice system. In 2018, Black and Hispanic people, despite being 28% of the overall U.S. population, made up 56% of the U.S. prison population. Furthermore, from the 2010 Census statistics, Native Americans were incarcerated at a rate 2 times higher than white Americans. Low-income communities and communities of color experience higher rates of sentencing, even with low-level drug possession — in fact, a Black man is 6 times more likely to be incarcerated than a white man is. The U.S. private prison system has created an economic engine with perverse incentives and police brutality, which has led to the countless deaths of unarmed people of color, including Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Dontre Hamilton.

Key Terms

Incarceration: admitted to a jail or prison
**Natural language processing (NLP):** a branch of artificial intelligence (AI) that drives computer programs that translate text from one language to another, respond to spoken commands, and summarize large volumes of text rapidly—even in real time
Recidivism: relapse in incarceration after an inmate's first release

Solutions

1. Reducing Over-Policing and Imprisonment

A staggering 45% of prison admissions result from violations while on parole. Many of these prison admissions result from simple technical violations such as missing a meeting or court date, leaving much room to drastically reduce prison admissions rates.

Existing Start-ups

UpTrust's software targets public defender, probation, and parole offices to eliminate technical violations in the criminal justice system. Around 2M people are imprisoned annually for a technical violation, costing local governments $10B per year. UpTrust helps build strong relationships between clients and their case managers through a digital communication platform to promote compliance.

What needs to be done?

<aside> 💡 Improving the Pre-Trial and Trial Process: A tech-enabled solution in this space could incorporate NLP to improve the work of court reporters who, in the past, have not accurately transcribed the speech of African Americans. Another tech-enabled solution could analyze records of assigning prosecutors to trials in order to reduce the amount of bias and overzealous prosecutors. Prosecutors with greater likelihood of racial prejudice or overzealousness would be matched to other cases to ensure fairness across trials. Pre-trial risk assessments can also be improved with ML algorithm auditing.

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2. Improve Rehabilitation / Reduce Recidivism

Life post-prison sentence can mean re-entering society without IDs, housing, savings, or even a job. A lack of post-prison rehabilitation support can result in high recidivism rates — within three years of release, "two out of three people are rearrested, and more than 50% are incarcerated again."

Existing Start-ups

Reconnect seeks to simplify and digitize the probation process by providing a communication platform between case managers and their participants. Their solution has the potential to reduce the number of admissions to prison as a result of a missed meeting or court date. Participants receive schedules each day outlining their tasks and obligations, and case managers can check in with participants and provide support and accountability. If a participant has not completed a task, their case manager can digitally touch base with them within minutes.
Pokket connects justice agencies and human service providers with returning citizens in order to break the cycle of recidivism. The app warns case managers when returning citizens start to fall behind on their appointments, so that appropriate intervention and support can be provided. Pokket differentiates itself from Reconnect because Pokket offers an electronic referral process between returning citizens and service providers—returning citizens agree to share their information with a service provider, and when they meet with the provider, more time can be focused on communication instead of paperwork.