How a robotaxi crash got Cruise’s self-driving cars pulled from Californian roads; The Washington Post, October 28, 2023

Trisha Thadani, The Washington Post , The Washington Post; How a robotaxi crash got Cruise’s self-driving cars pulled from Californian roads

"Here in California, the whiplash from approval to ban in just two months highlights the fragmented oversight governing the self-driving car industry — a system that allowed Cruise to operate on San Francisco’s roads for more than three weeks following the October collision, despite dragging a human pinned underneath the vehicle...

Ed Walters, who teaches autonomous vehicle law at Georgetown University, said that driverless technology is critical for a future with fewer road fatalities because robots don’t drive drunk or get distracted. But, he said, this accident shows that Cruise was not “quite ready for testing” in such a dense urban area...

Under the DMV’s autonomous vehicle program, companies are asked to publicly report collisions involving driverless cars only when they are in test mode. That means if an incident like the Oct. 2 crash occurs while the company is technically operating as a commercial service, the company does not have to publicly report it as an “Autonomous Vehicle Collision Report.”"

The Supreme Court Needs Real Oversight; The Atlantic, December 5, 2022

Glenn Fine, The Atlantic; The Supreme Court Needs Real Oversight

"A series of recent events at the Supreme Court threatens to undermine trust and confidence in the institution and demonstrates the need for it to have a code of ethics and for better oversight within the judiciary...

First, a code of judicial ethics should apply to Supreme Court justices. The Supreme Court should explicitly state that the Judicial Code of Conduct applies to it, or implement a modified code that does.

Second, the justices should be more transparent about their recusal decisions. They should explain the reasoning for their decisions to recuse, or not to recuse, themselves in significant cases.

Third, the judiciary as a whole should be subject to inspector-general oversight—to investigate alleged misconduct and to promote efficiency throughout the judiciary’s administrative operations, not to second-guess any judicial opinion. An experienced, permanent, internal judiciary inspector general, potentially reporting to the chief justice, could be structured to ensure that the judiciary maintains its institutional independence but employs more effective oversight.

In short, the Court needs to assure the public that it is governed by ethical rules and that each justice is not voluntarily judging his or her own compliance with ethical requirements. Supreme Court justices are not above the law or ethical rules. The Court’s failure to adopt an ethical code and its resistance to oversight risk further decline in public trust and confidence."

David J. Hickton: Report for region: People must have voice, stake in algorithms; The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 10, 2022

David J. Hickton, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; David J. Hickton: Report for region: People must have voice, stake in algorithms

"The institute that I lead — the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute for Cyber Law, Policy and Security, or simply Pitt Cyber — formed the Pittsburgh Task Force on Public Algorithms to do precisely that for our region.

We brought together a diverse group of experts and leaders from across the region and the country to study how our local governments are using algorithms and the state of public participation and oversight of these systems.

Our findings should be no surprise: Public algorithms are on the rise. And the openness of and public participation in the development and deployment of those systems varies considerably across local governments and agencies...

Our Task Force’s report — the product of our two-year effort — offers concrete recommendations to policymakers. For example, we encourage independent reviews and public involvement in the development of algorithmic systems commensurate with their risks: higher-risk systems, like those involved in decisions affecting liberty, require more public buy-in and examination."

Medicine and ethics: Will we learn to take research scandals seriously?; Star Tribune, October 29, 2018

Carl Elliott, Star Tribune; Medicine and ethics: Will we learn to take research scandals seriously?

"“The Experiments” is a cautionary tale of how the refusal of institutional leaders to look honestly at ethical problems can lead to the deaths of unsuspecting patients. And while the jury is still out as to whether the Karolinska Institute will reform itself, at least the Swedish public and concerned politicians are trying to hold the institution accountable. 

That is more than we can claim for Minnesota. As they say in the rehabilitation units: The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem."

Intelligence officials’ outrageous contempt of Congress; Washington Post, June 7, 2017

Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post; Intelligence officials’ outrageous contempt of Congress

"All of these witnesses, national security adviser H.R. McMaster and other White House officials act as if they work for the president, not the American people. This is unacceptable in a functional democracy and would, if perpetuated, do serious damage to our democratic system. They need to tell the truth, the whole truth. Transparency and honesty cannot be optional for members of the executive branch. We will see if Republicans in Congress exhibit the same level of outrage as do Democrats. If not, they will be revealing their own willingness to defend the president and refusal to wholeheartedly perform their duties as required by their oaths."

Ethics: Taming our technologies; Nature, 8/17/16

Steven Aftergood, Nature; Ethics: Taming our technologies:

"Technological innovation in fields from genetic engineering to cyberwarfare is accelerating at a breakneck pace, but ethical deliberation over its implications has lagged behind. Thus argues Sheila Jasanoff — who works at the nexus of science, law and policy — in The Ethics of Invention, her fresh investigation. Not only are our deliberative institutions inadequate to the task of oversight, she contends, but we fail to recognize the full ethical dimensions of technology policy. She prescribes a fundamental reboot...

Jasanoff argues for an entirely new body of ethical discourse, going beyond technical risk assessment to give due weight to economic, cultural, social and religious perspectives."

Harassment Crisis Builds at Fox News, Despite Its Swift Response; New York Times, 8/10/16

Michael M. Grynbaum, Emily Steel, Sydney Ember, New York Times; Harassment Crisis Builds at Fox News, Despite Its Swift Response:

"Of particular issue is a $3.15 million settlement that Laurie Luhn, a former booker at the network, said she received in 2011. In an interview with New York magazine, Ms. Luhn said that Mr. Ailes forced her into a yearslong sexual relationship.

Executives at 21st Century Fox have said they were only made aware of the settlement recently. On Wednesday, when asked to clarify exactly when it learned of it, the company declined to respond.

“One would hope that a $3 million settlement for sexual harassment would flow up the line to somebody in corporate management,” said Kirk O. Hanson, executive director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. “At least today, that kind of settlement should come to the attention of the audit committee of the board.”"