When
it
comes
to
public
defense,
it
seems
like
the
only
news
is
bad
news.
We
are
seeing
nationwide
shortages
of
public
defenders.
In
some
places,
the
demand
for
public
defenders
is
so
dire
that
their
workload
has
become
a
constitutional
issue
and
people
are
being
allowed
to
walk
because
no
one
is
there
to
represent
them:
As
far
as
the
other
side?
I’ll
put
it
this
way:
they
have
so
many
resources
that
they
can
afford
to
prosecute
someone
for
throwing
a
sandwich.
With
all
the
time
and
discretion
on
their
hands,
you’d
imagine
that
prosecutors
are
taking
their
time
to
do
the
paperwork
required
to
send
someone
to
jail.
Turns
out
even
they
are
being
swayed
by
the
large
language
modeling
of
all
things
legal.
And
while
that
might
be
cool
when
it
comes
to
grunt
work,
human
intelligence
should
be
in
the
driver’s
seat
on
matters
of
fundamental
liberty.
Gov
Tech
has
coverage:
Northern
California
prosecutors
used
artificial
intelligence
to
write
a
criminal
court
filing
that
contained
references
to
nonexistent
legal
cases
and
precedents,
Nevada
County
District
Attorney
Jesse
Wilson
said
in
a
statement.
…
“A
prosecutor
recently
used
artificial
intelligence
in
preparing
a
filing,
which
resulted
in
an
inaccurate
citation,”
Wilson
said
in
the
statement
to
The
Sacramento
Bee.
“Once
the
error
was
discovered,
the
filing
was
immediately
withdrawn.”
As
bad
as
this
is,
the
harms
could
be
managed
if
it
were
a
one-off.
Unfortunately,
it
looks
like
we’re
starting
at
serial
prosecutorial
error:
“The
Nevada
County
District
Attorney’s
Office
has,
in
at
least
three
criminal
cases
in
recent
weeks,
filed
briefing
citing
to
fabricated
(legal)
authority,”
wrote
lawyers
for
the
nonprofit
Civil
Rights
Corps,
which
is
representing
Kjoller
along
with
a
Nevada
County
public
defender.
While
we’re
on
the
topic
of
prosecutorial
error,
few
things
should
set
off
bigger
alarms
than
repeated
Brady
violations.
Lazy
AI
usage
pales
in
comparison
to
the
shame
of
over
200
people
being
sentenced
to
death
because
prosecutors
withheld
exonerating
evidence.
Nonetheless,
it
blows
my
mind
that
the
team
that
is
already
in
the
lead
on
resources
is
using
shortcuts
to
get
guilty
pleas
and
verdicts.
Maybe
it
should
be
fair
game
to
let
ChatGPT
do
part
of
being
a
lawyer
for
you.
But
whenever
you
submit
your
filings,
whatever
is
in
them
should
be
on
you.
That’s
your
responsibility,
regardless
of
whether
an
intern
or
a
large
language
model
got
sloppy
and
made
up
a
case
to
make
it
easier
for
you
to
imprison
someone.
California
Prosecutor
Says
AI
Caused
Errors
in
Criminal
Case
[Gov
Tech]
Earlier:
Public
Defender
Schedules
Are
So
Swamped
It
Probably
Isn’t
Constitutional
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s
.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boatbuilder
who
is
learning
to
swim, is
interested
in
critical
race
theory,
philosophy,
and
humor,
and
has
a
love
for
cycling
that
occasionally
annoys
his
peers.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected]
and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.