Minority Report Science Fiction Could Become Real In Idaho

Imagine a computer predicting the likelihood of you committing a crime in the future.  It sounds far-fetched and straight out of the Tom Cruise film Minority Report.

While not quite as sophisticated as seeing into the future what exists today is something called “risk assessment algorithms”.  Data is fed into a program and predicts the possibility of bail jumping (flight risk), future repeat offenses and level of potential violence.  A similar approach is already used by the state’s corrections department and could be coming to court systems.

State Representative Greg Chaney is from Caldwell.  A lawyer, he’s concerned minorities and men could be unfairly treated by the risk assessments.  The result could also cost the state and you, the taxpayer, money.  Previous studies of the program have alarmed organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union.  The ACLU is known for filing legal challenges when courts are viewed as unfair.

Chaney has the chilling details at this link.  He’s the sponsor of House Bill 118, designed to stop the use of the data.