Reducing Recidivism Or Misclassifying Offenders: How Implementing Risk and Needs Assessment in the Federal Prison System Will Perpetuate Racial Bias
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REDUCING RECIDIVISM OR MISCLASSIFYING
OFFENDERS?: HOW IMPLEMENTING RISK AND NEEDS
ASSESSMENT IN THE FEDERAL PRISON SYSTEM WILL
PERPETUATE RACIAL BIAS
Rachel DiBenedetto *
Your Honor, I understand the appeal of using this sentencing
software, EVALUATE. I do. It appears to be efficient, precise,
immune to emotion and lapses in logic. It seems fair and unbiased,
so shouldn't we attempt to be fair and unbiased in evaluating
whether it actually works? 32, 19, 34... 32% is the federal
recidivism rate. 19%? 19% is the recidivism rate of defendants tried
and sentenced in your court, Judge Barish. It's one of the lowest in
the Southern District. 34%? That's the recidivism rate of
EVALUATE, higher than the national average, 15 points behind
you.I
INTRODUCTION
Mr. Eric Loomis, a Wisconsin defendant, was charged with five
criminal counts in response to a drive-by shooting in La Crosse,
Wisconsin.2 He pled guilty to attempting to flee a traffic officer and
* J.D. Candidate, Brooklyn Law School, 2020; B.A., Binghamton University.
Thank you to my parents and my brother for the endless support and
encouragement. Additionally, thank you to the members of the Journal of Law
and Policy for all of their suggestions and assistance in developing my Note.
1 For the People: 18 Miles Outside of Roanoke (ABC television broadcast
Mar. 27, 2018).
2 Criminal Law - Sentencing Guidelines - Wisconsin Supreme Court
Requires Warning Before Use of Algorithmic Risk Assessment in Sentencing -
State v. Loomis, 881 N.W2d 749 (Wis. 2016)., 130 HARV. L. REv. 1530, 1531
(2017) [hereinafter Algorithmic Risk Assessment]; State v. Loomis, 881 N.W.2d
749, 754 (Wis. 2016) ([The State] charged him with five counts, all as a repeater:
(1) First-degree recklessly endangering safety (PTCA); (2) Attempting to flee or
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