Description

The American justice system isn't just run by judges and juries anymore — it's increasingly governed by code. The Digital Jail exposes how artificial intelligence, machine learning, and opaque algorithms now quietly shape who gets parole, who stays behind bars, and who walks free.

Risk assessment software like COMPAS and PSA promise to deliver "data-driven" justice. But in reality, they replicate and amplify the same racial biases, economic inequalities, and systemic flaws that have plagued the criminal system for decades. These algorithms scan criminal histories, zip codes, employment status — and spit out a number that decides someone's fate

The judges trust it. The public doesn't know it. And the people behind bars? They have no way to challenge it.

This exposé follows the paper trail — and the human cost — of algorithmic incarceration. It digs into contracts between private tech firms and government agencies, reveals secret scoring systems used in bail hearings, and interviews families torn apart by a single flawed data point.

In The Digital Jail, technology is not the solution — it's the new warden.