Unlocking Justice: The Power of Data to Confront Inequity and Create Change

How we can challenge social injustice-with data and humanityThe American legal system does not offer equal justice to all; we can see obvious racial disparities in sentencing, policing, and incarceration.In Unlocking Justice, Chad Topaz offers a concrete way forward, demonstrating how a candid dialogue between social justice and data science can empower communities, spark informed debate, and inspire advocacy.In addition to big ideas, Topaz brings the receipts-the data.Drawing on unedited police call logs, chaotic city websites, fragmented judicial records, and other overlooked sources, Topaz explains how social forces shape the data we collect, influencing whose voices are heard and whose remain unheard.From a rural New England town plagued by police misconduct to New York’s notorious Rikers Island jail, the stories Topaz tells demonstrate how numbers can expose injustice-and how data can underpin activism. Topaz shows readers how to interpret data in context and question underlying a