By: Kyla Goolsby
As of June 2018, the state of Arizona had the eighth largest incarceration rate in the world – 877 out of every 100,000 people. The subsequent passing of Senate Bill 1310 in 2019 sought to reduce incarceration rates by providing early release for those with specific non-violent drug offenses by reducing their sentences 30%. The same year, Arizona Department of Corrections (“DoC”) contracted with an IT company, Business & Decision North America, to purchase Arizona Correctional Information System (“ACIS”) software.
ACIS manages inmates by applying algorithms to calculate their release dates. After ignoring concerns about the software for over a year, the Arizona DoC has finally confirmed ACIS cannot re-calculate release dates aligned with SB 1310. This has resulted in the improper incarceration of countless inmates who are otherwise eligible for release.
SB 1310 authorizes the “earned” release for inmates convicted of either: (1) the possession or use of marijuana pursuant to section 13‐3405, subsection A, paragraph 1; (2) the possession or use of a dangerous drug pursuant to section 13‐3407, subsection A, paragraph 1; (3) the possession or use of a narcotic drug pursuant to section 13‐3408, subsection A, paragraph 1; or (4) the possession of drug paraphernalia pursuant to section 13‐3415.
Pertinently, the individual must have been convicted of only the possession offense and must complete a drug treatment program or other major self-improvement program provided through the Arizona DoC prior to release. In applying the SB 1310 statutory revision to eligible persons, the ACIS software system should use a formula of three days for every seven days served.
The Arizona DoC spent $24 million on the design and implementation of ACIS. ACIS is responsible for calculating the earliest release date possible for an inmate. From the inception of its usage, however, reports emerged concerning its effectiveness, stating it was unable to account for changes in law. It has since come to light these warnings were swept under the rug, as reported by whistleblowers from the DoC who went public in February 2021 with allegations of wrongful incarceration.
Whistleblowers spoke with NPR affiliate KJZZ Phoenix, exposing the failure of Arizona’s DoC to pay mind to several complaints filed regarding ACIS shortcomings, and further providing the agency’s statement that prisoner eligibility was instead being “manually” determined. Shortly after news broke, Arizona DoC blocked their employees from KJZZ’s website.
In reflecting on the entire experience with ACIS, one source stated, “we knew from day one this wasn’t going to work.” Rather than calculating three days for every seven served, ACIS can only calculate one credit for every 6 days served. Terrifyingly, this means not only are prisoners qualified for release not getting out, those meeting criteria for earned credits are serving 100% of their original sentences, rather than the reduced 70%, and others eligible for the earned credits program are not even being identified as eligible.
Otherwise eligible persons are not being enrolled in the self-improvement programs conditional for their release from imprisonment. At least 733 inmates qualified for the earned release credits programs have not been enrolled due to the glitch. At least “hundreds” of inmates remain incarcerated despite eligibility for release, all contrasting greatly with the Department’s guarantee that release dates are being manually entered to address gaps in ACIS’s capabilities.
Arizona’s criminal justice system disproportionately incarcerates Black people. Per 100,000 Black Americans, 3,184 will be incarcerated, compared to only 633 Whites. Rates such as these make the ACIS software defects all the more appalling. Addressing overrepresentation of minority victims to the criminal justice system starts with accountability. It is abysmal how little the media has reported on the improper incarceration of Arizona’s Black citizens since the whistleblower’s statements broke.
It is alarming the measures the DoC have taken, such as blocking their employers from viewing the whistleblower’s complaint, or spreading false promises to “manually calculate release dates,” to prevent word of the ACIS glitch from getting out. It is concerning how uneventfully the 20 months passed since first reports of ACIS’s failure to account for SB 1310. Letting the eligibility of release for incarcerated persons fall through the administrative cracks allows disproportionate rates of minority incarceration to continue.
The Arizona DoC now appears saturated with distrust, justifiably so, as no one appears to be coming to the rescue for the wrongfully imprisoned. It is impossible to imagine the effectiveness of a bill like SB 1310 on reducing incarceration rates for non-violent drug offenses if the opportunity to participate in earned release programs is never made available to the eligible. When the fate of peoples’ livelihoods is placed in the hands of novel technology, the direction administrative activity seems to be heading, it is absolutely critical that accountability measures are put into place to monitor that technology’s ongoing effectiveness. Not to mention, someone has to guarantee that the software works at all.
Student bio: Kyla Goolsby is a second-year law student at Suffolk University Law School and is pursuing a concentration in Health and Biomedical Law. Kyla is also a staff member for the Journal of High Technology Law.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog are the views of the author alone and do not represent the views of JHTL or Suffolk University Law School.
