A year rarely goes by when the Pennsylvania parole board doesn't come under fire because someone it let out early has killed again.And now some egghead says his computer can predict who will kill again--and importantly, who won't!
In 2008, inmates released long before their maximum sentences expired killed two police officers in Philadelphia, last year one killed a Pittsburgh police officer, and eight days ago a murderer who was twice paroled allegedly slaughtered four people in Northampton. [More]
The story doesn't say if he'll let them stay with his family during the parole period...
The computer model will be right in the mind of its' designer until it is determined to be wrong. How quickly that happens is debatable, but I would not bet against it happening.
ReplyDeleteI suggest that the designer of the computer model and his family or those that decide to implement this plan be forced to live with all those that the computer models determine to be "safe". If the model is wrong, let them be first to feel the consequences.
Alternatively, let the designer of the computer model serve a corresponding sentence in the same cell as the repeat killer. After all, what is the probability of a third event? Are the odds minimal or maximal?
A Mathematics professor will tell you that for each toss of a fair coin the probability of heads is one out of two regardless of the previous outcome. A Marketing professor once told me that after about the fifth consecutive toss of the coin resulting in heads to check the coin.