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People's jobs and freedom are being jeopardized by the roll-out of new software by California's courts.
[..] Odyssey, the new system being rolled out across much of California to deal with case file management.
So far, the problems have seen people wrongfully arrested, held in prison longer than required and in several cases mistakenly told they must register as sex offenders.
The software, created by Texas-based Tyler Technologies, costs about $5m and is set to gradually replace a decades-old e-filing system that looks like something a hacker would use in a Hollywood movie.
[...] Minor driving offences were incorrectly appearing as serious felonies,  meaning if an affected person applied for a job, they are likely to be flagged as having a serious criminal record.
[...] Tyler Technologies provided a statement to the BBC in which it defended its software, and shifted blame back to Alameda County's staff.
It said many factors could impact the software's usefulness, among them training of those who use the technology.
"We are confident that we have the experience to help our client navigate those inevitable headwinds, just as we have done many times before with other complex implementations," spokesman Tony Katsulos said.
Source: BBC News
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday December 01 2016, @03:02PM
Will Not Fix. Working As Intended.
The impact of this software issue is minor. In most cases, people are unnecessarily imprisoned for only short periods of time.
It's a feature, not a bug.
The User Story for this feature is that it results in lower cell vacancy and thus better cell utilization in For Profit Prisons. [youtube.com]. Higher cell occupancy results in increased revenue, and thus higher profits, higher executive bonuses and greater shareholder value. Thus it is good for "everyone".
Even a few extra days of unnecessary imprisonment results in additional opportunity to earn 'infractions' resulting in longer prison visits for guests of the facility.
Issue Closed
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Thursday December 01 2016, @03:48PM
Actually, my understanding is that for California prisons the problem is that they are overcrowded to the point where they had to release some pot users in order to make room for more serious offenders. That also turned into a major motivator for legalizing weed.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.