Commentary: A "source" of error: Computer code, criminal defendants, and the constitution

Duncan A. Taylor; Jo Anne Bright; John Buckleton

doi:10.3389/fgene.2017.00033

Commentary: A "source" of error: Computer code, criminal defendants, and the constitution

Duncan A. Taylor, Jo Anne Bright, John Buckleton

Research output: Contribution to journal › Comment/debate

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A commentary on
A “Source” of Error: Computer Code, Criminal Defendants, and the Constitution
by Chessman, C. (2017). Calif. Law Rev. 105, 101–193.
Chessman (2017) warns of the current trend to admit into court unchallenged the results of
complex computerized calculations. He provides a number of examples and arguments claimed
to demonstrate the need for open source software to remove the “black box” element. We agree
with parts of this sentiment, and the topic of this special issue, that there is a danger with those
using and receiving information from black box systems. Some care however is needed with simple diagnoses and prescriptions such as these.

Original language	English
Article number	33
Number of pages	3
Journal	Frontiers in Genetics
Volume	8
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2017.00033
Publication status	Published - 15 Mar 2017

Bibliographical note

Copyright © 2017 Taylor, Bright and Buckleton. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

Keywords

Closed source
Court challenge
DNA profile interpretation
Source code
STRmix

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10.3389/fgene.2017.00033Licence: CC BY

Published versionFinal published version, 181 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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abstract = "A commentary onA “Source” of Error: Computer Code, Criminal Defendants, and the Constitutionby Chessman, C. (2017). Calif. Law Rev. 105, 101–193.Chessman (2017) warns of the current trend to admit into court unchallenged the results ofcomplex computerized calculations. He provides a number of examples and arguments claimedto demonstrate the need for open source software to remove the “black box” element. We agreewith parts of this sentiment, and the topic of this special issue, that there is a danger with thoseusing and receiving information from black box systems. Some care however is needed with simple diagnoses and prescriptions such as these.",

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Commentary: A "source" of error: Computer code, criminal defendants, and the constitution

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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