Episode 56: The Conflicting Sides of Police Procedural Protections
This bonus episode of Proof Over Precedent looks at the access to justice issues around the Law Enforcement Officer Bill of Rights (LEOBR) statutes and contract provisions that grant police officers enhanced procedural protections during internal misconduct investigations. At odds are the tensions between public accountability and officers’ claims of needing protection from false accusations. HLS student Strong Ma proposes a randomized controlled trial to study the effects on investigation outcomes, civil litigation, and perceived fairness.
Episode 55: Navigating Workplace Justice Through an AI Lens
Workplace justice issues take center stage in this Proof Over Precedent “student voices” episode focused on Reclamo AI, an AI chatbot, developed to help workers–especially immigrant communities — address wage theft and find local advocates. Joshua Medina, legal director for Pro Bono Net’s JusticiaLab, shares insight on the transformation of the tool, including its efforts to protect user privacy and to avoid unauthorized practice of law.
Episode 54: Will Clearing a Criminal Record Lead to Happiness (and Housing)?
“My criminal record doesn’t reflect who I am anymore.” This sentiment overwhelmingly topped the list of reasons why expungement study participants wanted to clear their record that it seemed plausible to predict that clearing one’s criminal record would lead to higher levels of life satisfaction. Likewise, it did not seem far-fetched to assume individuals without a criminal record would fare better in obtaining housing than those with one. In both cases though, the A2J Lab and Kansas Legal Services found surprising results to refute these assumptions.