How Bad Data Traps People in the US Justice System | Clementine Jacoby | TED

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Shelley Tsang 曾雯海

My uncle came home from prison when I was 15,

我十五歲時，我叔叔從監獄返家。

but a few months later he was sent back.

但幾個月後他又回去坐牢了。

The whole experience made me pay attention to the criminal justice system

這段經驗

讓我初次正視刑事司法系統。

for the first time.

I started talking to researchers, advocates

我開始和研究者、倡導者談，

and eventually to the people who run the US prison system.

最終也找上經營美國監獄體系的人。

What surprised me most in those conversations

在那些談話中，最讓我驚訝的

was something they all agreed on.

是他們全都認同的一件事。

Everyone, the left, the right, advocates, agencies

所有人，左派、右派、倡導者、機構，

agreed that change was being slowed down by bad data.

都認同不良資料會減緩改變的速度。

Data that was scattered, stale, incomplete.

也是散落各處、過時、不完整的資料。

Data that made it really hard to know what was working.

這些資料讓人很難 從中得知什麼是行得通的。

Data so bad that people who had done everything

資料不良的程度到了 受刑人即使盡全力

that they needed to do to be released from prison

去做他們獲釋所必需要做的事，

were still stuck in the system.

也還是會被卡在系統當中。

Altogether,

總的來說，

bad data means that hundreds of thousands of people

不良資料意味著有數十萬人

are in prison and on probation and parole who don't need to be there.

明明不需要，卻仍然在坐牢或假釋中。

People like Kate.

凱特就是一例。

In 2018, Kate was sentenced to four years on probation for a drug charge.

2018 年，凱特因為毒品 相關指控而被判四年緩刑。

At sentencing, the judge told her that if she was doing well,

在判刑時，法官告訴她， 如果她表現良好，

she could cut that sentence in half.

刑期可以減半。

Today she's sober, employed, has stable housing,

現今，她都很清醒，有工作、 有穩定住房、很棒的孩子。

she's got kids who are doing great.

She did everything the judge asked, but she's still on probation.

法官要求的她都做到了，

但她仍然在服緩刑。

Kate's parole officer, Allison, has been an officer in Idaho for six years.

凱特的假釋官艾莉森

在愛達荷州當假釋官已六年。

And she's great at her job.

她很稱職。

But her job is kind of impossible.

但她的工作可說是辦不到的， 她要負責九十個人，

She is responsible for 90 people

who each need to do 21 things in order to be released.

每個人都得做二十一件事才能獲釋。

And those 21 things live in five different databases.

而那二十一件事存放在 五個不同的資料庫中。

So earned credits in one place,

所以，在一個地方賺取積分，

drug tests in another, fines and fees in another.

藥物檢測、罰金和費用 又都在不同的地方。

Phone reception is bad in most parole offices,

大部分的假釋官辦公室， 手機收訊都很差，

so to get the code to log into each system,

為了要取得登入每個系統的密碼，

she'd have to go to the parking lot.

她得到停車場才行。

And she would have to do that for 90 people every day manually

每天，她得以人工方式 為九十個人做這件事才能知道

just to know who had already done everything they needed to do

誰已經做了被釋放 必須完成的每件事。

to be released.

So you can see how people fall through the cracks.

這就不難了解怎麼會有人被忽略掉。

And it's hundreds of thousands of people.

而被忽略掉的有數十萬人。

Nobody likes this.

沒有人喜歡這樣。

I have spent the last three years

我過去三年的時間

working with the people who run state prison systems,

都在和經營州立監獄體系的人 合作，我可以告訴各位，

and I can tell you that nobody likes the fact

沒有人樂見有人 被卡在體系當中是因為

that people are stuck in the system

because databases aren't talking to each other.

資料庫彼此之間無法溝通。

It got like this because we have a fragmented system

會走到這步田地，是因為 零碎的系統成長非常快速。

that grew really fast.

Starting in the '70s

從 1970 年代開始 就出現急劇的成長，

we saw runaway growth at every level of the US justice system.

在美國司法系統的 每個層級都有這個現象。

State prisons,

州立監獄、

county jails, city police departments

郡立監獄、市警局，

all running their own collection of databases

都有一堆它們自己的資料庫， 彼此之間不相通。

that don't talk to each other.

Fast forward to today

快轉至現今，

and both sides of the aisle have fought to undo that growth,

兩黨都在努力消除那種成長，

passing common-sense laws that let people who are succeeding earn their way out.

通過常識法律，

讓成功做到的人 能夠掙得自己的出路。

But the data that an officer like Allison would need to actually enact those laws

但，像艾莉森這種假釋官實際 執行這些法律所需要的資料

is still scattered across all those different systems.

仍然散落在各種不同的系統中。

Criminal justice reform is complex.

刑事司法改革很複雜。

But this specific part of the problem has a very clear solution.

但針對問題的這個部分， 有非常明確的解決方案。

We can bring the data together.

我們可以把資料集合起來。

We can build tools for decision-makers.

我們可以建造決策者用的工具。

And those tools can directly translate to more people getting out of the system

那些工具可以直接轉換成讓更多人

脫離系統並待在系統外。

and staying out of the system.

That's what we do at Recidiviz.

我們在 Recidiviz 就在這麼做。

We're a nonprofit engineering team.

我們是個非營利的工程團隊。

And for officers like Allison, we built a tool that answers three questions.

我們為像艾莉森這種假釋官 打造的工具能回答三個問題：

Who is eligible for release, literally right now;

此時此刻有誰已經 符合資格可以被釋放；

who's almost eligible, but just needs to do one more thing,

誰只要再做一件事就能符合， 比如提交薪資收據的照片；

like send in a picture of their pay stub.

And who actually needs help

以及誰真的需要協助

getting treatment, getting a job, finding housing.

取得治療、取得工作、找到住房。

It's the simplest tool that you can imagine,

它是你所能想像最簡單的工具，

but it means that suddenly Allison can help the people who actually need it

但那意味著，突然間，艾莉森 能協助真正需要協助的人，

and help everyone else get back to their lives.

並協助所有其他人回到正常生活。

We launched this tool in Idaho six months ago.

六個月前，我們在愛達荷 推出了這項工具。

Within weeks, Kate was released.

數週內，凱特就被釋放了。

Within months, five percent of people on probation and parole

數個月內，

假釋或服緩刑的人，有 5% 若不是

had either been moved to lower levels of supervision

被移至監管層級較低的監獄， 就是完全移出司法系統。

or moved out of the criminal justice system entirely.

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Five percent.

5%。

Five percent.

5%。

Let's say we scaled just that to all 50 states.

假設我們把規模擴大到所有五十州。

That alone would impact 200,000 people like Kate.

光是這樣做就能影響到 二十萬名像凱特這樣的人。

And it's just the first step.

那只是第一步，只是拼圖的一小片。

That's one piece of the puzzle.

We need better data at every level of criminal justice decision making.

刑事司法決策的每個層級 都需要更好的資料。

So that corrections leaders can see which treatment programs work.

讓矯正領導者能夠知道 哪些治療方案有效果。

So that supervisors can find

讓監督管理者能找到並修正 這些把人拉回來的問題流程。

and fix these broken processes that pull people back in.

So that policymakers can see which laws are holding people back.

讓政策制訂者能知道

哪些法律會拖累人。

These are the leaders that Americans are looking to to reduce incarceration,

美國人仰賴這些領導者來減少監禁、

to reduce racial disparities, to save taxpayer dollars

減少種族差距、幫納稅人省錢， 並用安全的方式做到這些。

and to do it all safely.

We're asking them to make pretty bold changes while flying blind.

我們是在要求他們在盲目飛行時 要做出相當大膽的改變，

Data can't fix the US justice system,

資料無法改正美國的司法系統，

but it can help 200,000 people who are stuck.

但它能協助被卡住的二十萬人。

It can show us which strategies are working.

它能讓我們知道哪些策略 行得通，能給我們信心，

It can give us the confidence that the laws that we fight for

相信我們努力捍衛的法律

are actually helping the people that they're designed to help.

是真的在協助它們 設計來協助的對象。

We started this work because it felt like a clear place

我們投入這項工作是因為它感覺像是

for software engineers to pitch in.

適合軟體工程師貢獻的乾淨之地。

But it turns out that getting data to decision-makers

但，結果發現， 把資料送到決策者手上

is one of the most promising strategies we have

是我們要轉變整個系統 最有前景的策略之一。

for transforming the whole system.

So today, three years, eight states and thousands of people later,

所以，現今，

已經經過了三年、 八個州，以及數千人，

feels like we're just getting started.

感覺我們才像剛起步。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）