As long as we don't automate the court systems, that should rate limit prosecutions. On the other hand, we're already automating things like early release through machine learning scoring of likelihood of recidivism.

It's not like many US cities are really interested in prosecuting criminals in the first place.

This is a take so bad it’s borderline negligent.

If you are referring to the “progressive prosecutors”, I suggest you actually spend some time to hear long-form interviews with them. They have a genuine interest in lower crime and crime rates; they just don’t believe that the current pattern of prosecutions and warehousing criminals together in mass numbers achieves the goals.

It’s perfectly reasonable to criticize their solutions and outcomes, but to say they have no interest in prosecutions is flat wrong.

Chris Hayes interview with Chesa Boudin: https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/amp/ncna1307198

California recently passed a law banning employees from confronting shoplifters, exempting trained security guards. So now businesses have to comply with this nonsense or be prosecuted for stopping crimes. I don't believe the state has any interest in prosecutimg crime.

https://sd15.senate.ca.gov/news/governor-signs-senator-corte...

Ordinary employees should never be the frontline defence against criminals.

That is what trained security guards are for.

That's a very blanket statement that I believe is quite wrong.

Hopefully we don't end up in a society like that.

Where minimum-wage cashiers are pitted up against violent criminals in order to protect the theft of a company's insured products.

I think the point should not be that we expect cashiers to stop criminals. Rather the issue is that the state forbids their intervention. Why should people be disallowed from protecting their private property?

They may have such an interest, but their misguided methods are absolutely destructive.

Courts don’t need to be automated. With enough laws and enough evidence, prosecutors will have sufficient leverage for plea bargains, which already make up the vast majority of criminal cases.

And the use of ML to assist bail / parole is aside from my point. Those are attempts to get a more accurate (potentially less biased) evaluation of already existing cases. I’m talking about the increase in cases.

The point being that there are a limited number of human beings, including prosecutors, that can make the system work, even plea deals are rate-limited.

Plea bargaining is a dangerous game IMO.. It incentivises a suspect to plead guilty because even if they're not they's a possibility to get a much higher sentence if the court thinks otherwise.

So people can be coerced into pleading guilty. I'm glad we don't have this system where I live.

It was considered unethical when the US was founded, but the role and ethics of public prosecutors have evolved in the past 200 years.

Also worth pointing out that local prosecutors are elected, so there are tons of perverted incentives in trying cases. When prosecutions get backlogged, voters get frustrated and will vote for change.

The 13th amendment does exclude punishment for a crime...

> I have argued that privacy is largely an artifact of the lack of technology

That's certainly true.

Think about trying to "disappear" now. 50 years ago, it wasn't so hard. Police data wasn't available online. People didn't carry devices that were constantly connected to the mobile network. CCTV cameras and facial recognition didn't exist.

Now? It would be far, far harder.

I understand every concern about privacy but 50 years ago crime rate was a lot higher in almost every country. We as humans were more violent with lack of tech or no tech. This recent 50-30? years is the most peaceful time in history by far.Tech improves our lives, and somehow makes us busy and makes us wayy less violent. Privacy is the cost here? does it worth it? I really don't know

Excessively strict, persistent and widespread monitoring technology also takes away the human "leeway" element to enforcing laws, controlling for infractions and pursuing for incrimination. I don't think most are conceived in a way that assumes absolute compliance, most people probably break multiple during their day without even realizing.