老澳门开奖结果

Earlier this month Kim Foxx, the state鈥檚 attorney for Cook County, Illinois, which covers Chicago, released six years鈥� worth of raw data regarding felony prosecutions in her office. It was a simple yet profound act of good governance, and one that is all too rare among the nation鈥檚 elected prosecutors. Foxx that 鈥渇or too long, the work of the criminal justice system has been largely a mystery. That lack of openness undermines the legitimacy of the criminal justice system.鈥�

She鈥檚 right on both counts.

The trove itself is massive 鈥� roughly 45 million sortable, searchable spanning tens of thousands of cases from investigation to resolution. Granted, the data covers a period prior to Foxx鈥檚 ascension (2010 to 2016). However, it鈥檚 her office and her budget that are on the hook for any inquiries, legal or otherwise, that the data begets. More importantly, she鈥檚 set a precedent of transparency that will be hard to abandon when it comes time to release data about her own performance in office. (Indeed, she simultaneously released a 2017 鈥渄ata report鈥� that summarizes her office鈥檚 work over the past year, though not the underlying raw data.)

This is real accountability. Unfortunately, it鈥檚 sorely lacking in most of America鈥檚 top prosecutors, which is ironic for a group whose very job is to hold others to account. Most prosecutors鈥� offices are chronically . They routinely and legislative transparency efforts, often claiming, somewhat perversely, that public safety would be harmed if the public knew how its safety was being achieved.

But what if the prosecutors are the ones ? How are we to know? And how can we cast informed votes or tell our prosecutors to adjust their priorities if we don鈥檛 know how those priorities are being implemented on the ground?

Raw data can help us answer these questions, which is why transparency is a necessary tool to remake our broken criminal justice system. Prosecutors, after all, are elected officials who have played a significant role in the nation鈥檚 mass incarceration crisis. Without the relevant raw data on how prosecutors wield their immense power, voters will have a more difficult time electing those who are committed to reforming the system in a deliberate and transparent way.

Data transparency also promotes justice. Defense attorneys can use data to assure fairer outcomes for their clients, particularly minorities who receive harsher sentencing recommendations from prosecutors for the same crimes as their non-minority counterparts. The data can identify patterns of constitutional violations that can be rectified by prosecutors鈥� offices, state oversight agencies, or, where necessary, outside civil rights organizations. In Louisiana, the 老澳门开奖结果 and Civil Rights Corps have sued to end a secret witness intimidation program that DA Leon Cannizzaro鈥檚 office fought to keep secret by 鈥� you guessed it 鈥� .

Prosecutors themselves can also benefit from releasing their data. It shows that they have nothing to hide and, when crime goes down, they can claim verifiable credit. That鈥檚 the thing about data: If collected honestly and thoroughly, it does not lie 鈥� which makes opposition inherently suspect.

Transparency is also a smart move for prosecutors who want to stay in office. Voters overwhelmingly support increased transparency in the criminal justice system, and a recent 老澳门开奖结果 national poll showed that a whopping 85 percent of voters are much more likely to support a prosecutor who believes in sharing data and policies with the public.

Whatever Foxx鈥檚 data ultimately reveals, the release itself is a vital signal that she does not intend to hide from her constituents. She and a have proven it can be done. Now your local prosecutor 鈥� your local elected prosecutor, that is 鈥� has no excuse. Show us the data, or we鈥檒l show you the door.