Predictive Algorithms in Justice Systems and the Limits of Tech-Reformism

Abstract

Data-driven digital technologies are playing a pivotal role in shaping the global landscape of criminal justice across several jurisdictions. Predictive algorithms, in particular, now inform decision making at almost all levels of the criminal justice process. As the algorithms continue to proliferate, a fast-growing multidisciplinary scholarship has emerged to challenge their logics and highlight their capacity to perpetuate historical biases. Drawing on insights distilled from critical algorithm studies and the digital sociology scholarship, this paper outlines the limits of prevailing tech-reformist remedies. The paper also builds on the interstices between the two scholarships to make a case for a broader structural framework for understanding the conduits of algorithmic bias.