Bail practices across the United States are unsafe, unfair, and ineffective. Poor people are locked up while rich people pay to get out of jail. This is a timely issue. Courts are deciding whether Harris County bail practices are unconstitutional.
Working with Themis Research to sift through Harris County arrest and disposition records to determine whether there is discrimination in the bail system.
This repo contains the data and Python code I've used to assess whether Harris County bail practices are unconstitutionally discriminating against defendants with low income. The release directory contains code exploring the factors that influence a defendant's likelihood of pre-trial release from jail. The disposition directory contains code exploring the factors that drives a judges disposition decision for a defendant.
I want to find more ways to examine this hypothesis and visualize the results in a compelling manner. In addition, I want to get more data and get access to the right people who have the power to enact bail reform.
