Big Data and Due Process

Cornell Law Review Online, Vol. 99, 2014

Duke Law School Public Law & Legal Theory Series

10 Pages Posted: 17 Aug 2014 Last revised: 24 Jul 2018

Date Written: August 15, 2014

Abstract

Today, electronic footprints may follow us wherever we go. Electronic traces, left through a smartphone or other device, can be tracked to the scene of a crime, or they can place a person far from a crime scene. By the same token, individuals may be falsely implicated due to errors in large government or commercial databases, and evidence of innocence may linger in such archives without ever coming to light. Professors Joshua Fairfield and Erik Luna and have done an important service by carefully introducing the problem of “digital innocence” and marking out areas in need of clear thinking and policy. In this online response to their wonderful piece, I discuss four additional problems at the intersection of big data and due process rights: (1) the need for developed electronic discovery rules in criminal cases; (2) the need to reconsider the meaning of Brady v. Maryland and the due process obligations of prosecutors and government agencies in the context of government data; (3) the parallel need to reconsider standards for effective assistance of defense counsel; and (4) the need for broader and better-adapted postconviction electronic discovery and remedies.

Suggested Citation

Garrett, Brandon L., Big Data and Due Process (August 15, 2014). Cornell Law Review Online, Vol. 99, 2014, Duke Law School Public Law & Legal Theory Series, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2481078

Brandon L. Garrett (Contact Author)

Duke University School of Law ( email )

210 Science Drive
Box 90362
Durham, NC 27708
United States
919-613-7090 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.brandonlgarrett.com/

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
304
Abstract Views
1,785
Rank
181,378
PlumX Metrics