Artificial Evidence
August 23, 2021
The Good News
- ‘A thrilling sign’: Researchers discover secret colony of highly endangered marmots on Vancouver Island (CBC)
- A new ‘leash’ on life: Government program will train dogs for veterans with PTSD (NBC)
“Travel makes one modest, you see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” — Gustave Flaubert
“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” — Albert Einstein
Artificial Evidence
Anyone who’s ever watched an episode of Forensic Files knows how important something small is for convicting a criminal defendant — the tiniest bit of blood for DNA, a fiber for comparison, gunshot residue, blood spatter trajectory, and even a bite mark can make all the difference. Those things, however, can be challenged in court. But how does an attorney challenge an algorithm that purportedly analyzes sounds to distinguish gunshots from other noises — and predicts whether the defendant had fired a gun — when the AI company won’t reveal how the technology works?
ShotSpotter is one of those gunshot detection systems being used increasingly as direct evidence in trials. The company website lists 119 communities in the U.S. and beyond where it has contracts to operate its sensors. ShotSpotter also uses a predictive policing firm it acquired called HunchLab, which integrates AI models with the company’s gunshot detection data to ostensibly predict crime before it happens.
An attorney for the Innocence Project, a nonprofit seeking to reverse wrongful convictions, points out that the algorithm analyzing sounds to distinguish gunshots from other noises has never been peer-reviewed by outside academics or experts. “[T]here are simply no studies … to establish the validity or the liability of the technology. Nothing.” The company claims to use its “sensors, algorithms and artificial intelligence” to classify 14 million sounds as gunshots or something else, but its database is proprietary. ShotSpotter guards how its closed system works like the KFC chicken recipe, making it largely inscrutable to the public, jurors, and police oversight boards.
A 2011 efficacy analysis the company commissioned found that instead of actual gunshots, dumpsters, trucks, motorcycles, helicopters, fireworks, construction, trash pickup, and church bells had all triggered false positive alerts. Cities from Charlotte, North Carolina to San Antonio, Texas have ended their ShotSpotter contracts over false or omitted alerts. Police in Fall River, Massachusetts said ShotSpotter worked less than 50% of the time and missed all seven shots in a downtown murder in 2018. ShotSpotter’s CEO said the company constantly works to improve the accuracy of its system, but that it still logs “a small percentage of false positives.”
To date, ShotSpotter evidence has been admitted in some 200 court cases nationwide. The AP reviewed thousands of the company’s internal documents, emails, presentations, and confidential contracts, plus interviews with dozens of public defenders in communities where ShotSpotter has been deployed, and they identified numerous serious flaws in using the results as evidentiary support for prosecutors. The system can miss live gunfire right under its microphones, or misclassify fireworks or cars backfiring as gunshots. Forensic reports prepared by ShotSpotter’s employees have been used to improperly claim that a defendant shot at police, or provide questionable counts of the number of shots defendants allegedly fired, or if they fired a gun at all.
65-year-old Michael Williams was jailed last year based on a clip of a noiseless security video showing a car driving through an intersection, and a loud bang picked up by a network of surveillance microphones. Prosecutors said the secret algorithm that analyzed the noises detected by the sensors indicated Williams had shot and killed a young man he had given a ride to. Williams, who is Black, was eventually released due to “insufficient evidence,” but not until he’d sat behind bars for 11 months. There is ongoing furor over racial bias in policing, and privacy and civil rights advocates say algorithm-based technologies lacking transparency and oversight demonstrate exactly why the criminal justice system shouldn’t be outsourcing to computer code some of society’s most consequential decisions. (AP)
Cases Up Down Under
- Australia, like China, New Zealand, and some other countries, has attempted to completely eradicate Covid-19 inside its borders. The strategy had largely worked until recently; Australia has just 44,026 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 981 deaths.
- But several major cities, including Sydney, Melbourne, and the capital Canberra, are again under lockdown as authorities struggle to contain an outbreak of the Delta variant. On Saturday, thousands took to the streets of Melbourne and Sydney to protest the long lockdowns; hundreds were arrested, and at least seven police officers were injured during violent clashes.
- In an opinion piece published Sunday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison hinted at an end to the country’s zero Covid-19 infections strategy, but warned Australians to expect a rise in infections as restrictions relax. That same day, Sydney recorded 830 confirmed Covid-19 cases in 24 hours. It’s the highest number of daily new infections yet, despite being in a strict lockdown since late June. (CNN)
Tensions Rising In Middle East
- On Saturday, violence erupted after hundreds of Palestinians took part in a demonstration organized by Gaza’s Hamas rulers to draw attention to the Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the territory. The demonstration grew violent after dozens of people approached the fortified border fence and threw rocks and explosives toward Israeli soldiers from behind a black smoke screen billowing from burning tires.
- At least 24 Palestinians, including a 13-year-old, were injured by Israeli gunfire, while one Israeli Border Police officer was shot and critically injured. Early Sunday, Israel’s military fighter planes bombed “four weapons and storage manufacturing sites” in the Gaza Strip belonging to Hamas rulers. On Monday, Egypt closed the Rafah crossing on its border with the Gaza Strip. Rafah is the only crossing between Egypt and Gaza; it will remain closed to all traffic in both directions until further notice. (NBC News, Reuters)
Additional World News
- The Taliban Destroy An Enemy’s Statue — And Add To Fears Over Their Rule (NPR)
- Lebanon to raise fuel prices in bid to ease crippling shortages (Reuters)
- Russia on Taliban: Possible partners, but also deep regional risks (WaPo, $)
- China both worries and hopes as US departs Afghanistan (AP)
- Europe fears Afghan refugee crisis after Taliban takeover (AP)
- French anti-vaccine pass protests demonstrate for sixth weekend (The Hill)
- Biden confirms plan to nominate Rahm Emanuel as ambassador to Japan (Guardian)
Pata-gone-ia
- Jay Kemmerer, co-owner of a popular Wyoming ski resort, co-hosted a fundraiser August 5 for the House Freedom Caucus, a bloc of conservative Congress members who’ve allied themselves closely with Donald Trump. The event at Spring Creek Ranch, which had a minimum admission of $2,000 a couple, featured Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
- Some area residents protested the event and called for a boycott of the resort, which is among the most popular spots in one of the most Republican states. This week, Patagonia confirmed it would no longer sell its outdoor gear and clothing at the three stores operated by the Jackson Hole resort. The company champions liberal causes and environmentalism, and suggested the fundraiser linked to the resort did not align with its values.
- The Jackson Hole resort is Patagonia’s largest single customer in the area, but a spokeswoman for the company said “We join with the local community that is using its voice in protest. We will continue to use our business to advocate for policies to protect our planet, support thriving communities and a strong democracy.” (Jackson News & Guide, WaPo)
GOP Scandal In Minnesota
- Perhaps these people have never heard of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. 19-year-old Gisela Castro Medina, chairwoman of the University of St. Thomas College Republicans, was arrested earlier this month, along with prominent Minnesota GOP activist Anton “Tony” Lazzaro, 30, on suspicion of “obstruction of justice, sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of underage victims.” St. Thomas, a private Catholic university in Miami Gardens, Florida confirmed Medina was enrolled as a second-year student and listed as the primary contact for the campus College Republicans club. Medina was also a fugitive from the FBI in Minnesota, wanted on conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors.
- Lazzaro’s attorney said Medina had worked for Lazzaro at one of his businesses in Minnesota and they were personal friends. Lazzaro had close ties to numerous high-ranking Minnesota Republicans, including state party Chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan, who is married to U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn (R-Mn). From October 2019 until early January 2020, Carnahan and Lazzaro co-hosted the ironically-named podcast TruthMatters. A separate court filing in July revealed an extensive list of possessions seized from Lazzaro in December 2020, including hundreds of gold and silver bars in various weights, precious coins and currency from around the globe.
- The newest indictment ordered Lazzaro to forfeit additional items, including real estate property, a 2010 Ferrari convertible, and $371,240 in U.S. currency. A week after Lazzaro’s arrest on August 12, Carnahan resigned as state GOP chair. Party officials and former staffers accused Carnahan of running a toxic, retaliatory workplace, mismanaging party finances, and, through the use of non-disclosure agreements, squashing transparency. A former deputy chair of the Minnesota GOP said, “The party is in ruins.” (Buzzfeed, Star Tribune, Politico)
Additional USA News
- At Least 8 Killed In Tennessee Flash Floods; Dozens Missing (HuffPost)
- Supporters at Alabama rally boo Trump after he tells them to get vaccinated (The Hill)
- Biden’s approval rating drops to lowest point amid rise in COVID, Afghanistan fallout (USA Today)
- Portland officials and progressives unite to oppose far-right protest (Guardian)
- Brothers, 8 and 6, steer car safely off road after father shot and killed while driving (NBC)
- Orlando residents asked to limit water usage to help Covid-19 patients (CNN)
- Defense Secretary Orders Six Commercial Airlines to Help Ferry Afghan Refugees (NYT, $)
Scarlett’s Letter
A-lister Scarlett Johansson says she made an agreement with the Walt Disney Company and Marvel Studios in 2017 that her big-budget superhero movie “Black Widow” would be given a full, exclusive theatrical release, and that her compensation would be based on theater ticket sales. So when Disney decided to debut the movie in July on its streaming service Disney+ and in theaters at the same time, Johansson filed suit for breach of contract, alleging the studio was preventing her from “realizing the full benefit of her bargain with Marvel.”
Multiple stars and directors have pushed back on media companies that placed their films on streaming services during the COVID-19 pandemic, instead of giving them a months-long exclusive release in theaters, which is typical for big Hollywood movies and the customary way the biggest stars are paid. Directors and actors were furious at Warner Bros. and WarnerMedia for deciding in 2020 to funnel their 2021 movies to HBO Max at no extra cost for consumers. After some drawn-out negotiations, WarnerMedia paid more than $200 million to talent up front to compensate for the loss of traditional profit participation, known as “back end.”
Johansson’s complaint said the actress wanted Disney and Marvel to make good on its promise the way Warner Bros. did for talent such as Patty Jenkins for “Wonder Woman 1984,” but that Disney “largely ignored” her entreaties. Then on Friday, Disney’s lead attorney filed a motion in L.A. County Superior Court seeking to have the more than $50-million breach of contract lawsuit decided in private arbitration proceedings rather than by a California jury.
Johansson’s legal team has demanded that the dispute be decided by a jury in open court. If that happens, the notoriety could make it a watershed moment for talent who feel they’ve been cheated out of money by studios that decide to release their films simultaneously on streaming services and in theaters. (LA Times, Observer)
Additional Reads
- ‘A Beautiful Feeling’: Refugee Women In Germany Learn The Joy Of Riding Bikes (NPR)
- Jupiter experienced a rare triple transit of its moons (WaPo, $)
- Just like humans, apes communicate to say hello and goodbye, research shows (CNN)
- To Improve Opioid Addiction Treatment, ERs Get Creative (NPR)
- Hydrogen lobbyist quits, slams oil companies’ “false claims” about blue hydrogen (Ars Technica)
- Is your name ruining your life? (Wired)
- 8th-graders lead effort to pardon wrongly convicted ‘witch’ (AP)