Bureaucracy as a Lens for Analyzing and Designing Algorithmic Systems

Scholarship on algorithms has drawn on the analogy between algorithmic systems and bureaucracies to diagnose shortcomings in algorithmic decision-making. We extend the analogy further by drawing on Michel Crozier’s theory of bureaucratic organizations to analyze the relationship between algorithmic and human decision-making power. We present algorithms as analogous to impartial bureaucratic rules for controlling action, and argue that discretionary decision-making power in algorithmic systems accumulates at locations where uncertainty about the operation of algorithms persists. This key point of our essay connects with Alkhatib and Bernstein’s theory of ’street-level algorithms’, and highlights that the role of human discretion in algorithmic systems is to accommodate uncertain situations which inflexible algorithms cannot handle. We conclude by discussing how the analysis and design of algorithmic systems could seek to identify and cultivate important sources of uncertainty, to enable the human discretionary work that enhances systemic resilience in the face of algorithmic errors.Peer reviewe

3. New Zealand’s Jane Doe

Julia Tolmie argues that Louise Nicholas’ monumental effort to prosecute three police officers for sexual assaults committed against her, commencing when she was a girl, also achieved what Sean Dewart suggests Jane Doe’s case did, by exposing abuse of power by police and generating a public demand for accountability. In contrast, however, Louise Nicholas’ case was not informed by feminist analysis and she was not vindicated personally by the trial outcomes. Like Lucinda Vandervort who, later in this volume, explores the multiplicity of legal errors in another disastrous sexual assault prosecution involving a gang assault on an Aboriginal girl, Julia chronicles how police and prosecutorial errors played a significant role in the multiple retrials that the complainant endured and that finally produced the officers’ acquittals. Louise Nicholas’ bravery did, however, result in more women coming forward to identify these officers as perpetrators, and several related convictions ensued. Julia’s discussion of the public inquiries and law reform proposals that the Louise Nicholas case prompted reminds us that legal wins and losses are only a starting point for feminist activis

3. New Zealand’s Jane Doe

Julia Tolmie argues that Louise Nicholas’ monumental effort to prosecute three police officers for sexual assaults committed against her, commencing when she was a girl, also achieved what Sean Dewart suggests Jane Doe’s case did, by exposing abuse of power by police and generating a public demand for accountability. In contrast, however, Louise Nicholas’ case was not informed by feminist analysis and she was not vindicated personally by the trial outcomes. Like Lucinda Vandervort who, later in this volume, explores the multiplicity of legal errors in another disastrous sexual assault prosecution involving a gang assault on an Aboriginal girl, Julia chronicles how police and prosecutorial errors played a significant role in the multiple retrials that the complainant endured and that finally produced the officers’ acquittals. Louise Nicholas’ bravery did, however, result in more women coming forward to identify these officers as perpetrators, and several related convictions ensued. Julia’s discussion of the public inquiries and law reform proposals that the Louise Nicholas case prompted reminds us that legal wins and losses are only a starting point for feminist activis

3. New Zealand’s Jane Doe

Julia Tolmie argues that Louise Nicholas’ monumental effort to prosecute three police officers for sexual assaults committed against her, commencing when she was a girl, also achieved what Sean Dewart suggests Jane Doe’s case did, by exposing abuse of power by police and generating a public demand for accountability. In contrast, however, Louise Nicholas’ case was not informed by feminist analysis and she was not vindicated personally by the trial outcomes. Like Lucinda Vandervort who, later in this volume, explores the multiplicity of legal errors in another disastrous sexual assault prosecution involving a gang assault on an Aboriginal girl, Julia chronicles how police and prosecutorial errors played a significant role in the multiple retrials that the complainant endured and that finally produced the officers’ acquittals. Louise Nicholas’ bravery did, however, result in more women coming forward to identify these officers as perpetrators, and several related convictions ensued. Julia’s discussion of the public inquiries and law reform proposals that the Louise Nicholas case prompted reminds us that legal wins and losses are only a starting point for feminist activis

Facts seen and unseen: improving justice responses by using a social entrapment lens for cases involving abused women (as offenders or victims)

This article explores two recent cases. The first, where a woman from a culturally and linguistically diverse background (Rinnabel Blackmore) was killed by her abusive partner and the second, where an Aboriginal woman (Jody Gore) killed her abusive partner. In both cases, we consider the implications of using a social entrapment lens, which focuses on coercive control, the limits of the family violence safety response and the role of structural intersectionality to understand the form of violence the woman faced before being killed by her abuser or killing her abuser. We show how a social entrapment framework can reveal relevant facts and improve understanding of the dynamics of violence and might have led to different actions and decisions by the agencies and individuals responding to the violence in these cases

Sexual Assault in Canada

Sexual Assault in Canada is the first English-language book in almost two decades to assess the state of sexual assault law and legal practice in Canada. Gathering together feminist scholars, lawyers, activists and policy-makers, it presents a picture of the difficult issues that Canadian women face when reporting and prosecuting sexual violence. The volume addresses many themes including the systematic undermining of women who have been sexually assaulted, the experiences of marginalized women, and the role of women’s activism. It explores sexual assault in various contexts, including professional sports, the doctor–patient relationship, and residential schools. And it highlights the influence of certain players in the reporting and litigation of sexual violence, including health care providers, social workers, police, lawyers and judges. Sexual Assault in Canada provides both a multi-faceted assessment of the progress of feminist reforms to Canadian sexual assault law and practice, and articulates a myriad of new ideas, proposed changes to law, and inspired activist strategies. This book was created to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Jane Doe’s remarkable legal victory against the Toronto police for sex discrimination in the policing of rape and for negligence in failing to warn her of a serial rapist. The case made legal history and motivated a new generation of feminist activists. This book honours her pioneering work by reflecting on how law, legal practice and activism have evolved over the past decade and where feminist research and reform should lead in the years to come

Spectrum of mutations in the renin-angiotensin system genes in autosomal recessive renal tubular dysgenesis

Autosomal recessive renal tubular dysgenesis (RTD) is a severe disorder of renal tubular development characterized by early onset and persistent fetal anuria leading to oligohydramnios and the Potter sequence, associated with skull ossification defects. Early death occurs in most cases from anuria, pulmonary hypoplasia, and refractory arterial hypotension. The disease is linked to mutations in the genes encoding several components of the renin–angiotensin system (RAS): AGT (angiotensinogen), REN (renin), ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme), and AGTR1 (angiotensin II receptor type 1). Here, we review the series of 54 distinct mutations identified in 48 unrelated families. Most of them are novel and ACE mutations are the most frequent, observed in two-thirds of families (64.6%). The severity of the clinical course was similar whatever the mutated gene, which underlines the importance of a functional RAS in the maintenance of blood pressure and renal blood flow during the life of a human fetus. Renal hypoperfusion, whether genetic or secondary to a variety of diseases, precludes the normal development/ differentiation of proximal tubules. The identification of the disease on the basis of precise clinical and histological analyses and the characterization of the genetic defects allow genetic counseling and early prenatal diagnosis